Happy Families?
by Georgy-Girl
Summary: Nothing ever goes right for Connie Beauchamp. Just as things are perfect, a surprise (or several) will turn her life plans on their head. Co-written with QueenConnieBee
1. Chapter 1

"I cannot believe I've just had 3 weeks off and I'm more exhausted than before I left!" Connie muttered to herself as she did her make-up in the bathroom mirror. She then assessed the state of her hair and clothes, but aware they would get no neater in the few minutes before she had to leave, Connie just sighed and walked from the bathroom. "Grace! We're leaving in-" Her yell was cut off by the realisation Jacob was still in bed fast asleep. "Jacob!" She shook his leg, earning herself a frown and grumble. "JACOB!" This time his eyes flickered open and he yawned widely.

"What time is it?"

"Half past 7. Get up!" Connie pulled the blankets off him, allowing the cool air to hit his body full force.

"You'll pay for that, sweet cheeks!" He called after her as she walked from the main room towards her daughter's room.

"Are you up?"

"Yes!" Came a small voice from her side.

Smiling, Connie ran a hand over the hair of her youngest daughter. "I know you're awake, sweetheart. You woke me up at five! Have you seen Gracie?"

Ava gave a shrug before continuing on down the corridor in a shuffled walk wearing a pair of her mother's heels.

"Grace!" Connie knocked on her eldest's door before pushing it open, another yell disappearing as she found the bed made and the room empty. Tutting, Connie turned to make her way downstairs to try and find her. The first day back after the holidays was always the worst, and today seemed to have been made even more difficult because everyone was exhausted. Their flight home had been delayed by bad weather, and they'd only arrived home just after midnight. "Grace, if you're not dressed..."

"Jacob's not dressed." Grace reasoned as the shirtless man himself rushed into the kitchen ahead of his wife to get something to eat.

"This is my new uniform, didn't you know? Yeah, me and Charlie picked it from the nurse's uniform catalogue." Jacob informed Grace as he ruffled her hair.

"Are you sure Mum didn't have a hand in that?" Jacob winked at Grace before quickly leaving the room, a bowl of muesli in hand as he saw Connie in the doorway, her hands folded across her chest.

"I'm going, I'm going." He rushed past her, but not before brushing a quick kiss to her cheek, then jogging quickly up the stairs, scooping his youngest daughter in his other hand as he went. "You're going to break your ankle missy, I've told your mother not to leave these lying around..." Ava giggled in response, and Jacob settled her on the bed as he began to get ready.

"JACOB!"

"I'M COMING WOMAN!" He turned to Ava to roll his eyes at her mother's impatience, to find that she was in fact bouncing on the bed, sloshing his breakfast all over the duvet cover. "No, no, no no, oh no..." He picked his daughter up, and sat her in the chair in front of Connie's vanity as he stripped the bed, wandering to the wash basket to see that it was already overflowing.

"Right, I'm leaving! Not my problem if Rita sacks you!" Connie stood at the bottom of the stairs, unaware of the chaos that was ensuing upstairs as Jacob tried desperately to fit the milk and muesli covered linen into the washing basket and keep an eye on Ava who, unbeknownst to either parent, rummaged through Connie's collection of Yves Saint Laurent lipsticks. "Oh, for goodness' sake..." She muttered, having been too tired to notice before now that her shoes were absent from her feet.

"Will someone please go and find your poor mother her shoes?" She called through to the kitchen, the question aimed primarily at Grace. She then looked upwards on hearing a series of thumping noises, grunts, and an exclaimed expletive from her husband.

Ava grinned widely as her father turned to her with the intention of telling her not to repeat what he'd just said, but the words died on his lips when he found she'd used one of Connie's lipsticks in an attempt to be just like her mother. Taking the lipstick from her, Jacob looked around for something to wipe her face on before pulling her under one arm so he could charge to the bathroom for a wet wipe.

As Connie put one foot on the stairs, about to go up and see what was happening, she heard Ava give a delighted laugh and at the same moment, Grace put shoes in front of her.

"You left them by the front door last night. Along with the sandwich you brought me to take for lunch today." Grace held up the dried out, forgotten sandwich.

Sighing, Connie pulled her wallet from her bag and pushed it at Grace before she attempted to slip her shoes on. "Take whatever is in there."

"We're ready!" Jacob called before barreling down the stairs with a clean Ava still under his arm, his work shirt still in his hand instead of on his chest. Glancing between them and then at her sister, Grace slid a fifty pound note from the wallet and into her school bag.

"Hurry up, mum, or we'll be late!" Grace advised.

"Yeah, stop dawdling, Connie, or we'll never get to work." Jacob added, earning himself a smack on the arm as Connie followed them out, shutting the front door with a bang.

* * *

"Right, I'll pick Ava up from school, Grace is getting the bus back..." The couple walked into the ED, hand in hand, stopping at reception to pick up a folder of patient notes before carrying on to her office.

"Do you think she was funny with me this morning?"

Who, Grace?"

"Mhm. I don't know, I just..." She rubbed at her forehead as he dropped his arm to her waist as they walked.

"She's fine, Con. The little one, on the other hand, is a nightmare."

"Well, I wonder who she gets that from, hm?"

At this, Jacob rolled his eyes before motioning a quick greeting to Cal and Robyn as they passed the nurses' station.

"You're finishing at-"

"A human time. As are you, sweet cheeks." He opened the door for her and followed her in, taking her coat and bag as she settled at her desk, her hand again rubbing at her head. "Con, are you feeling-"

"Jacob, I'm fine." She snapped, clicking the mouse to wake up her computer. She then let out a sigh, and brought her head up to look at him. "I'm sorry, I didn't..." She trailed off, as her computer dinged and she let out a frustrated growl.

"Are you in admin all day?"

"Three weeks off, Jacob. I'm going to be drowning in admin all bloody week."

"Worth it though, having spent the last 3 weeks with this gorgeous face." Jacob grinned widely, earning an eye roll from his wife. "Coffee?"

"Please." Connie responded, but called out again as he turned to leave the office. "What's that all over the back of your shirt?"

Frowning, Jacob twisted a little to look. "It, ah-"

"That's the colour of my favourite lipstick! Jacob, what the hell has-" Connie was cut off by a forceful kiss from her husband before he rushed from the office, shutting the door behind him. Sighing, Connie sunk back into the office chair she was worried she wouldn't leave for at least a week.


	2. Chapter 2

Aside from Jacob slipping in and putting a coffee from her desk before running out at great speed, which brought a smile to Connie's face, she didn't see him for a few hours, her head down as she worked on emptying her inbox. When she next saw him, she was walking into the staffroom to make a coffee and he was asleep sitting up. Biting her lip to stop herself laughing, Connie approached him slowly and then said loudly, "Wake up!"

Jacob jumped out of his seat, a hand to his chest and left wondering for a moment if he'd dreamt it, as the only person in the room was Connie, and she had her back to him making a coffee. It was the shaking of her shoulder's as she laughed that told him the truth. "That's the second time you've woken me up today." Jacob pointed out as his hands rested on Connie's hips for a moment before he moved his arms around her to unscrew the coffee jar lid she was struggling with.

"If I'm not allowed sleep, then neither are you." Connie replied. "Excuse me, are we forgetting who won that arm wrestle? I can undo it myself, thank you." Connie took the jar away from Jacob. "I had a call from Grace earlier. She wanted you to pick her up as well because she says she's too tired to get the bus."

Jacob frowned as he moved to rest his back against the bench next to her. "I thought she liked getting the bus?"

"So did I, but apparently not anymore." Connie sighed, finally giving in and pushing the jar back into Jacob's hands.

"Okay, well...That's fine, tell her I'll be there."

"Thank you..." She turned her head to kiss him, before pushing him backwards so that she could open the cutlery drawer to find a teaspoon. "Look, I don't know if I'm overreacting to this or something..." She trailed off at Jacob's raised eyebrow, which displayed quite clearly his thoughts on the possibility of her overreaction.

"Con, it's fine. She said she's tired, of course she is."

"I don't know, maybe I just expected her to-"

"Suck it up? Come on, sweet cheeks." He paused, taking the spoon from her hands and lying it down on the surface as he wrapped his hands back around her waist and swayed gently. She allowed him to hold her for a few seconds, before un-tucking her arms from his and taking the spoon, realising then that she had not yet pulled a mug down from the shelf. "Jacob, get off."

He groaned, and simply wandered down the side of the cupboards with her. She rose slightly to reach the shelf, her heels slipping from her shoes. She didn't often use the staffroom mugs, and sighed as she brought down one of Dylan's, which was adorned with greyhounds.

"You can't see what you're choosing, can you?" He grinned at her, chuckling softly as she shook her head. "Because you're so small..."

"Shut up. I can manage, thank you." She rose up again, and smiled in satisfaction as she pulled down a plain blue one with no obvious owner attachment. She struggled as she walked with Jacob attached to her, back to the kettle and the coffee jar, his head nuzzling into her hair.

"Don't worry about her. If you still think there's something going on, next week say, then I'll have a chat with her."

"Okay." She replied softly, too tired to argue with him. He turned her around, and brought her into his chest, when she tried to push herself away he only tensed the muscles in his arms to hold her there. Eventually, she began to relax, and momentarily closed her eyes before she heard footsteps enter the staffroom.

"Well, well, well. Still sexually harassing your colleagues I see, Jacob." Came a voice Connie didn't recognise. In no mood for such comments, she pulled back and opened her mouth to snap a reply, but soon found her mouth hanging open in shock, instead. As soon as his head had turned to see who had walked in, Jacob had released Connie from his hold to pull this other woman into his arms, spinning her around as they both laughed. When he finally put her down, Connie managed to close her mouth and plaster a tight smile on her lips.

"What are you doing here, baby girl? You didn't tell me you were visiting!" Jacob grinned down at the woman in front of him.

"I'm not visiting." She held up a staff ID card with a grin.

Unused to not being in Jacob's focus when she was in the room, Connie cleared her throat and stepped forward. "Who exactly employed you? There was no room in the budget for another staff member."

"And you are?" The woman asked with raised eyebrows, her eyes finally moving from Jacob's face.

"The woman who runs this department." Connie replied icily, though the tight smile was still on her lips.

"Sorry, Kate, this is Connie. Connie, Kate. Old friends." Jacob offered with a smile.

"It's Mrs. Beauchamp, actually." Connie added, holding out a hand to shake Kate's.

"Ooh, right then. Well, I'm the new Band Six nurse, so I guess we'll be able to catch up." She quickly removed her hand from Connie's, and turned her attention back to Jacob who was still smiling, much to Connie's irritation.

"As if... Kate, this is mad!"

"Oh, I know! When I asked who the other sixes were and I was told you were here... Well, I had no idea!" She paused, taking a quick glance at Connie before clearing her throat and adjusting her bag. "I take it, you two then, you're-"

"Married." Connie smiled her tight smile once more, noticing Kate's expression of surprise which she failed to cover.

"You did well to get him to settle, Connie." She winked at Jacob, and Connie folded her arms in front of her, her first intention being that on resuming her shift, she would arrange the rotas so that Kate would be on nearly every night shift going.

"Mmm. You'd best go, I'm sure Ms. Freeman will want to give you a tour before your shift, which starts-"

"Oh, I have ages yet. I just wanted to see Jacob." She smiled at Connie, who clenched her teeth before moving away from Jacob to pour water from the kettle into her mug, expecting him to dismiss the new girl and go back to the office with her. As they continued to talk, ignoring her presence entirely, she decided that she wasn't going to hang around. She took her mug with her, leaving the room but glancing back once, to see them still engaged in deep conversation.

She saw them again twice that shift, standing at the nurse's station laughing at something. The way Kate tossed her hair whenever she laughed was already irritating Connie and making her wish for Lofty back. Just as she'd buried herself angrily in files again, there was a gentle knock on the door. "What?!"

"Alright, snappy." Jacob smiled as he opened the door.

"How am I going to get this finished if people keep interrupting me?" Connie fumed, her annoyance made worse by the face Kate was passing and had heard her outburst.

"Hey, relax, sweet cheeks. Just bring some home when your shift finishes and I'll help you after dinner." Jacob approached the desk and then slid behind it to give Connie's shoulder's a massage. "I'm just off to pick up the kids, do you want me to get shopping on the way home?"

Connie sighed and rubbed her forehead, annoyance and sleepiness making her head ache. "No, I'll go when I'm done here."

"Okay." Jacob dropped a kiss to the top of her head. "Need me to do anything before I go?"

Connie shook her head with a sigh. "Just keep an eye on Gracie and see if she seems upset, okay?"

"Yes, boss." Jacob replied, dropping another kiss to her head before giving a smile. "And by the way, I thought you were Mrs Masters now, not Mrs Beauchamp."

She instantly felt guilty, despite how irritated she felt by his actions today. "I'm sorry, I-"

"Relax, Con. It's not a big deal." He knew it would take her a while to get used to it, she was the Mrs Beauchamp, it was her entire front. But instead of consoling her, this actually made her more annoyed. It should be a big deal to him, but that's not what he had made it sound like at all.

"I'll see you later."

"See you later." He pressed another kiss to her head, knowing that this wasn't just about Grace, but reluctant to push her if she evidently didn't want to talk to him about it.


	3. Chapter 3

"Daddy!"

Jacob grinned as he stretched his arms out to his youngest daughter. "Hello, monster! Here, I'll take that." He swung her princess backpack onto his shoulders, taking her hand as they walked out of the school gates and to the car. "We need to make a quick journey to get Grace, and then Mummy is going to meet us at home later."

He put Ava in her car seat and strapped her in before walking around to the driver's seat, his phone vibrating in his pocket. He glanced at it, and quickly typed back a reply to Kate, offering to arrange dinner for another evening.

Grace was already waiting outside, arms folded, when Jacob arrived, and she climbed into the front seat silently, then stared straight ahead.

"...Hi, Jacob. How was your day? Thanks for coming to get me." Jacob offered, attempting to get a smile out of his step-daughter.

"Well I don't see why I have to catch the bus but she gets picked up." Grace grumbled, gesturing to Ava who sat yawning in the backseat.

Jacob was quiet for a moment and then nodded. "We're all tired, so we will talk about that another day. There's no food at home, so do you want to stop off and get something or can you wait until dinner?" When Grace just gave a shrug, Jacob sighed and started the car.

...

Who are you?" Grace asked an hour later when she pulled open the door and found a woman she didn't recognise on the doorstep. Jacob was currently trying to feed Ava and had called to Grace to open the door.

"Ah...who are you?" The woman asked back.

"You came to my door, so you have to answer first." Grace folded her arms.

A smile slowly lit the woman's face. "You must be Connie's daughter, Grace. You look just like her! I'm Kate, I'm here to see Jacob, and I brought you dinner!" She held up a container. "Can I come in?"

"Hey! I thought I told you another night!" Jacob appeared behind Grace and put a hand on her shoulder as he grinned at Kate.

"You did, but you also said your fridge was bare and that you were exhausted, so I thought I'd bring you all something to eat. It's your favourite cuisine!" Kate smiled hopefully.

"Mum doesn't like Italian." Grace reminded Jacob. She'd been looking forward to Jacob helping her with her homework after Ava went to bed, and she didn't want this woman to ruin that.

* * *

Connie's shift had now ended, and the last thing she wanted to do was do a food shop. She had already assigned Kate to the next five night shifts, and was going to speak to Jacob about their history tonight. The more she knew, maybe the less irritated she would be. Perhaps they really were just good, old friends.

She gathered her coat and her bag, and swept a set of files from her desk before leaving and locking the door. She bypassed the nurses' station, wanting to find Kate and ask her how her day went in an attempt to make amends for her brusque manner earlier so that the girl would have less reason to disfavour her to Jacob when she inevitably complained about her shift allocations.

"Connie! I haven't seen you since you got back... Everything okay?" She walked very nearly into Charlie as he appeared from cubicles. She sighed, not wanting to divulge every detail of her day, seeing as he did always seem to know when something, or someone, was bothering her.

"I'm just tired. And Jacob..." She trailed off before rubbing her temples. "It doesn't matter. Have you seen the new girl? I wanted a word."

"Oh, she said something about telling you she'd see you this evening."

Connie stared at Charlie, her jaw tensing. "She what?"

"Something about bringing Italian? Night, Connie."

Connie's eyes shut tightly as she muttered, "Night Charlie."

...

When Connie arrived home that evening, having only done a short, angry food shop, she was in a worse mood than ever. Tired, hungry and still with paperwork to finish, she just wanted to go home to one of those lovely, peaceful family evenings where they'd all sit in silence but together.

Grace was the first to greet her when she walked through the front door, hugging her mother tightly and shocking her in the process. "Hey, Gracie. Did you have a good-"

"Connie! Bet you're glad your shift is over. Glass of wine and some pasta?" Kate appeared in the doorway, holding up both a bottle and one of the wine glasses that had been a wedding present.

"No, thank you." Connie replied, glancing into the front room as she passed to find Jacob sleeping sitting up again, this time with Ava curled into him, her eyelids heavy as she fought sleep. "I'm not hungry, and I still have work to do."

"Can I come and do my homework in your office?" Grace asked hopefully, eager to be away from Kate, who had doted on Ava and yet barely acknowledged Grace since she'd arrived.

"Of course, sweetheart." Connie replied, worry about her daughter still in the back of her mind. "Sorry, Kate. We've all had a long few days, as you can see." She gestured towards the front room. "Perhaps you'd better get going."

…

Once Kate had eventually left, Connie washed up with Grace, before insisting that Ava start getting ready to go to bed. She helped her change and brush her hair, before she wandered into the front room to say goodnight to Jacob.

"Ava sweetheart, come to mummy for a minute." Connie crouched down in the doorway, allowing Ava to run into her arms. "You wake up daddy and say goodnight, and then tell him that mummy would like to have a word with him in the kitchen once he's tucked you in." Ava nodded, going to the sofa to wake Jacob, and Connie left to find Grace, sitting in her chair, doing her homework.

She walked over to stand behind her, placing her arms around Grace's shoulders and resting her head on hers.

"I don't like her either, Gracie."

...

Grace went up to bed not long after, and although Connie knew she would be on her phone, tonight wasn't a night where she was willing to fight with her. She stood in the kitchen, leaning against the island, straightening when Jacob came through.

"Are you going to tell me what's up, Con?" He moved over to her, attempting to take hold of her elbows with his hands, which she pushed forcible away.

"I want to know what you were thinking when you agreed to let her in my house tonight." He chose to ignore her emphasis on 'my.'

"Con, she just wanted to catch up-"

"That's all you seemed to be doing on shift." She glared at him, and he sighed. "And, the fact that you didn't even tell me she was here! I mean, Charlie told me!"

"I'm sorry, I-"

"Sorry isn't good enough, Jacob! You let her come here, a complete stranger to our children, when Grace is quite evidently upset-"

"She was f-"

"No, Jacob. She isn't, but you know, if you'd have been bothered enough to talk to her instead of moseying around all evening with Kate, then maybe you would have realised that."

Jacob lowered her head, feeling himself start to get angry. "I didn't know she was coming, Connie, I didn't invite her, but I wasn't going to be rude and tell her to leave when she was trying to do something nice! I don't know what I have done to piss everyone off today, but-"

"oh, you don't know? you have no idea?" Connie questioned, arms folded.

"No, I don't! All I have been doing all day is trying to make sure everyone else is happy and okay, and I'll I've got for it is silence or anger, so you know what? I'm going to bed, and I'm going to forget today ever happened." Jacob turned away.

"I don't want her in my house again." Connie spoke in a low voice.

"Fine." Jacob replied sharply, walking from the room.

Connie paced the room for a while and then threw the remnants of Kate's offerings into the bin, along with the food she'd brought specifically for Jacob at the shop in the hope he'd turned Kate away. Switching off the light, she then stormed up the stairs and into the bathroom to try and relax herself with a warm bath.

When she came back into the room, she found him already there, sat up in bed. He gestured for her to come in with him, and she sighed before walking over and settling next to him. He put his arm around her and kissed her head gently, noticing how tense and quiet she was.

"I'm sorry Con, I am. I know I should have asked her to leave tonight, I just thought she was being nice."

"Mhm."

"And I'll speak to Grace tomorrow. She was a bit funny with me in the car earlier, with Ava." He turned to look at her, sighing as she made no move to look at him. "What else is it, Con? If you don't tell me, I can't fix it."

"Nothing. I'm just tired." She leant slightly into his side, and he stroke the top of her arm gently as he tried to think of what else he could possibly apologise for. Whenever she said 'nothing', there was always something, usually quite a big something too.

"Talk to me."

She turned her head to look at him then, before closing her eyes and turning away. She said nothing else, believing that all things considering, he should be able to work it out for himself.

"...Not exactly how I expected to spend our first official night in our own bed after getting married," Jacob finally offered, hoping for a smile, but all Connie did was offer a sigh as she moved away from him and rested her head on her pillow. Though she had her eyes closed, she knew Jacob watched her for a long time before he reached to turn the light off and settled down to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

"Grace, time to get up."

Grace groaned and rubbed her eyes as Jacob opened the curtains. "My alarm hasn't gone off yet." she grumbled, about to settle back down to sleep.

"I know, but I had to do it early or everyone would want some." Jacob replied, walking to sit on the end of her bed.

"...Want some what?" Grace finally asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"I've made you breakfast in bed. I went out early to get some warm croissants from the bakery. Don't tell your mum, but they're the chocolate ones!" Jacob was hoping maybe she was just sad about being back home after such a long holiday.

Pushing herself up, grace eyed the tray, with its fresh croissants and orange juice, before she glanced up at Jacob. "You went there just for me? Not for mum? I heard you two fighting last night..."

"Just for you." Jacob replied, smiling when Grace immediately reached out and then bit happily into a croissant. "I'm sorry you heard us, but you don't need to worry, we were both just tired."

"...Can we watch Neighbours?" Grace asked hopefully.

"One episode, and don't think this is going to become a regular thing, Missy!" Jacob moved to sit next to her, propping her iPad against his knees.

Fifteen minutes in, Jacob decided to broach the subject.

"I wanted to ask you how you're finding things."

"Things?"

"Well, me and your mum, you and Ava... You know we love you both to pieces, just because I'm not your biological dad doesn't mean I love you any less."

"Jacob, it's all cool."

He raised his eyebrows in response, before shaking her shoulder affectionately and bring her into his side.

"You know I know that's not the case. Come on firecracker, what's up?"

She didn't say anything for a while, her eyes watching the programme but her brain not processing anything that was going on in it.

"Jacob..."

"Yeah?"

She turned to look at him, her face a picture of both seriousness and sadness.

"You aren't going to leave, are you?"

"Of course I'm not, Grace! What on earth makes you think-"

"She's pushing you away."

He looked at her again, confused. "Grace, I don't understand."

"Mum. She's pushing you away, you need to push in. Before it gets worse."

"Grace, I know you heard us fighting but everyone argues, me and you're mum... Nothing big is going on, I promise."

"If everything was fine then you wouldn't have still been arguing when I went to sleep. She tells you everything, Jacob. It would have got sorted."

"She's just tired-"

"This is different. It's like it was when I was little, and I know what happens next."

Jacob sighed then and looked down at her attempting a smile. "Do you think I should take her that last croissant?"

"That won't work." Grace said earnestly.

"Worked on you, firecracker." Jacob replied, though his mind began working on the question that had kept him up all night- what had upset Connie?

"Didn't." Grace responded, but soon relented and added, "Well, only a little bit."

"Whatever happens, Gracie, I'm in your life for good. Have I ever lied to you?" Grace thought about his question for a moment and then honestly shook her head. "Exactly. So don't worry about me going anywhere. As for your mum, I'll work on it, and if she tells you anything, you tell me. Agreed?"

Grace nodded. "And take her the last croissant, too." She added, smiling when Jacob dropped a kiss to her head, but the smile soon vanished as Jacob left the room. Life had been too good, and she'd known deep down it wouldn't last long.

"Wakey wakey." Jacob slipped back into bed beside Connie, the croissant waiting for her downstairs with a pot of coffee and her favourite jam. She groaned before turning and brushing her hand against his face, smiling as she opened her eyes. Moments later it vanished, as she remembered what had happened the day before, and to his disappointment she quickly slipped from the bed muttering about checking Ava.

He sighed, following her for a few steps before taking her waist and cuddling her close to him.

"Jacob-"

"Ssh. She doesn't need to be woken up yet, we're early. Come downstairs." He kissed her neck, smiling as she instinctively rolled her head back against his chest. He led her down the stairs and into the kitchen, despite her pulling back reluctantly against him. They reached the door and he stood behind her again, and quickly covered her eyes with his hands.

"Jacob, let go, I can't-"

He then took his hands away and pulled a stool out from the island in the middle of the room, grinning as she turned to look at him, a soft smile gracing her features despite her sigh.

"It's going to take a bit more than a lovely breakfast-"

"Ssh, Con let me try. I'm sorry, I really am."

She sighed again before sitting down, unaware that Grace had now come from her room, her dressing gown wrapped tightly about her as she stood in the doorway, watching them.

Jacob stood behind Connie, wrapping his arms around her to continue to drop kisses to her neck as she took a sip of her coffee. "I love you," he murmured in her ear, but this only received a sigh, as did the tickling kiss he gave to her earlobe that usually got a smile and, if he was lucky, a giggle. Changing tack, Jacob moved away to pour himself a coffee. "I spoke to Grace."

At this, Connie lifted her head and looked at Jacob's back, her eyes flicking momentarily to the scar that was still evident on his arm from being shot. "What did she say?"

"Nothing." Grace said, entering the room. She didn't want Jacob to tell Connie what she'd said, because she was finally getting on with her mother and didn't want that to change. "He just woke me up early and I told him to go away."

"So you didn't talk to her then. thanks." Connie offered Jacob sarcastically.

Though he raised his eyebrows to look at Grace, she refused to meet his eye and instead looked at her mother. "Is there anything for me to take for lunch today?"

"Take this, I'm not hungry." Connie pushed the croissant towards her daughter, giving Jacob a frosty look before she walked from the room with a coffee in her hand.

"What was that all about?" Jacob questioned as soon as she was out of earshot.

"You can't just tell her what I said, it will upset her!" Grace replied, pushing the croissant into a bag as she wiped frustrated tears from her face. "Why can't you just sort it out like you usually do?!" With this, she stomped away, leaving Jacob alone, confused, and unsure what to do.

As Connie sat at her vanity upstairs, all she could think about was why all this had so suddenly started to escalate. Yes, she was irritated with Kate and Jacob yesterday, especially when he didn't seem to think it was necessary to tell her anything more about her, or seem to mind that she had forgotten to introduce herself as Mrs Masters, as soon as Kate had arrived. That was made worse by the whole dinner incident, and the fact that he seemed so reluctant to help her with Grace. She let out a growl of frustration as she tied her hair behind her and swept her fringe into place. She had thought that maybe today, he would put Kate down, and that later she would maybe apologise for being quite so distant and harsh. Now she was doubting that that would be the case.


	5. Chapter 5

Halfway through her math's lesson that morning, Grace felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket. She slipped it under the desk, and was surprised to see a message from Jacob. She tapped a quick reply back, an uneasy feeling in her stomach, hoping for once that the lesson would drag out for a while before the bell rang for lunch.

When it did, she walked quickly out of school, pushing past the other students who were walking into town for lunch, to the ED. It was a good twenty-minute walk, but he was waiting when she did arrive.

"Bench?"

She nodded, and he produced two pasta pots and lemonade bottles from behind him, earning a small smile. She had eaten the croissant on the way to school that morning.

"Grace, I need your help. You asked me to fix it, but this involves you too. I'm trying to get through to her, but-"

"She just needs to know you love her, Jacob."

"She knows I-"

"Isn't it obvious?"

He put his pasta in his lap, exasperated. "Grace, if it was obvious then don't you think-"

"She's tired. She's stressed and she's worried, but she doesn't want to pile it on you because you're tired too."

"Okay. But-"

"She was fine yesterday morning. The only thing that's happened since is her." She motioned over to where the new nurse stood, waiting outside the ED entrance.

"Grace, there is nothing going on between-"

"That's not the point, Jacob. She doesn't think like that." Grace said softly, and he looked at her as she looked directly at him. He then pressed his hand to his forehead, and Grace shuffled closer to rub his arm.

"When did you get so wise, Gracie?" Jacob asked softly as he rubbed his head.

"I'm not wise, I just know my mother." She replied just as quietly, jumping when she heard her mother. Both Jacob and Grace looked up to find her approaching them with a frown.

Connie had decided to come out for some fresh air, but had been heading inside after seeing Kate when she spotted her daughter. "What are you doing here?!" She stopped in front of them, arms folded. Her eyes stayed glued to her daughter, and she didn't even acknowledge Jacob's presence.

Grace looked panicked, aware her mother would be angry with both her and Jacob if she told her the truth. When she saw Jacob about to reply, she offered hurriedly, "I felt sick. Jacob picked me up."

"...What sort of sick?" Connie questioned, putting a hand to her daughter's forehead to see if it felt warm.

Grace glanced sideways at Jacob before she replied, hoping he wouldn't tell her the truth. "I just have one of those headaches I used to get."

Connie looked pained, aware that Grace used to get those headaches because she was stressed and unhappy. "Come to my office and I'll call your school." Connie opened an arm to her daughter, and once Grace was safely tucked into her mother's side, she glanced back at Jacob apologetically.

Inside, Connie settled Grace on the couch with a warm drink before calling the school to alert them that she'd not be back in until tomorrow. Grace was looking out the window at the staff passing, and when her mother finally hung up, she asked quietly, "Mum, can Jacob come in and sit with me for a little while?"

"Er, no. You can stay in here, with me."

"Mum, please-"

"He needs to work, Gracie."

"He's not working now."

Connie raised her eyebrow, surprised at Grace's insistency.

"Please, Mum? I need to talk to him."

"Why can't you talk to me?" Connie asked, hurt. She knew she was right about the headache, and despite this her daughter intended to push her away.

"I can talk to you, Mum." Grace stood up and went to her mother's desk, and hugged her. "But I need to talk to Jacob about this one."

"Gracie, what's going on?"

"Nothing, Mum..." She looked at her mother, who quickly cast her eyes downwards so that her daughter wouldn't see her tears. "Mum, are you okay?"

"Mhm. Right, if you're certain you want him in here, instead of me, then I'll go." She stood up quickly, opening the door and clicking quickly away from the office, brushing past Jacob as he walked past the nurses' station.

"Woaah sweet cheeks, where you off to?"

"Grace wants to talk to you." Connie motioned over her shoulder to her office as she kept on walking.

Jacob glanced towards the office and then followed his wife, trying to take her hand to stop her, but when she shook it off, he just lengthened his stride to keep up with her. "Hey, hey. Just stop for a second and let me say something."

Connie finally stopped in the entrance to the staffroom, turning to glance up at him before looking away so he wouldn't see the tears in her eyes. "What?"

Reaching up, Jacob brushed her fringe out of the way and let his fingers linger on her cheek for a moment before he reached into his back pocket to pull out the delivery he'd found waiting just after he'd messaged Grace. "This just came. I thought we could put it in together?"

Connie lifted her eyes then and looked at what he held- it was a new insert for her office door sign. Connie Masters. She took it from his hand and shook her head, unwilling to say anything lest it make her cry.

"What's the matter, princess?" Jacob asked in the same soothing gentle voice he used to Ava when she was upset. It almost worked. Almost.

When Connie lifted her head and finally looked at him, opening her mouth to tell him what she was worried about, but then noticed Kate watching them, a frown on her face. Looking away again, Connie brushed her cheek, though no tears had fallen. "You need to go and talk to Grace."

"But I want to talk to you." He took her forearms and pushed her into the staffroom gently, Connie watching over his shoulder as she saw Kate walk in the direction of her office.

"I don't want-" She was silenced by his finger on her lips, which then traced upwards to her eyes as she blinked and a stray tear fell through her lashes. He pushed the insert onto the surface behind him and pulled her close to his chest, murmuring into her hair. She needed to be reassured, he got that now, because she didn't want to admit to him this to him in case he though she didn't trust him. She did trust him, completely. "She made you happy."

"What?"

"When she came in... I know it's silly, I know we're exhausted. But then... But then-" Her words were cut as he pulled her to his chest again, unable to stand how she was struggling to cope with this vulnerability.

"But then I didn't show you that it was just a surprise. I know. And then I made things worse because I didn't notice." He talked over her head, momentarily closing his eyes before opening them to look at her.

"I'm sorry, I was being silly-"

"Ssh. Well, a little bit. But I understand, Connie. I know this is massive for you. I know. Don't you ever think that I just take the fact that you've done this, married me, for granted." He paused, stroking her back as she sighed into his shirt. "And Grace... Well, she's worried about you. About us."

Connie looked up sharply at this, her eyes questioning and alert.

"What did you say to her? When? When did you-"

"Easy, sweet cheeks. Let's go and find her."

Connie hesitated and then nodded, allowing Jacob to take her hand and lead her towards the office. As they got closer, Connie's footsteps quickened, sure she could hear Grace yelling.

"I hate you! You're ruining everything and you don't even care! It was perfect before you. It was finally perfect and then you just showed up!" Grace yelled at Kate who was still stood by the door looking shocked.

Connie let go of Jacob's hand to rush in and comfort her daughter, pulling Grace close to her chest as the girl burst into tears, struggling for breath as she hadn't done in a long time.

"Jacob-" Kate began, but he shook his head, motioning for her to leave. Once she slipped from the room, Jacob shut the door quietly, and he and Connie shared a concerned look over Grace's head.

"Gracie-" Connie began, but was quickly interrupted by her daughter's anxious voice.

"He's going to leave and you're going to let him! You're going to push him away like you push everyone away, even me!" Grace cried into her mother's shirt, her voice muffled. Though Connie tried to reply, she found her voice was stuck, unable to get past the lump that was burning in her throat.

"I told you that I'm not going anywhere, Grace. I know you know your mum, but I know her too. I know that her...ice queen voice is just there to stop people hearing how she's really feeling. I know that she's been hurt before so she pushes people away when she thinks it might happen again. But Gracie, I also know how to make her open up to me, to tell me what's wrong. If I didn't, I wouldn't be here."

As Jacob spoke, Grace turned her head so she could watch him through one eye as her mother stroked her hair.

"Promise?"

"I promise, firecracker." At this, she nodded, and Connie moved back to give her some space before turning to look at the clock. "How about... Seeing as you're so sick-"

"I'll go home with her." Jacob grinned at Grace, who smiled back.

"No Jacob, it's fine I'll-"

"I'll take her, Con. Rita will give me the afternoon off, then I'll come and pick you up." He kissed her cheek and she smiled, turning back to her daughter to check that this was okay.

"Alright, Gracie. You go and wait in the car, here-" She took her keys from the desk and gave them to her, frowning as her daughter took them reluctantly.

"Grace, I promise, it's okay. We can all talk again later, if-"

"No, it's okay." She didn't meet her mother's eyes but walked quickly from the room, knowing that she was wanted out of the way.

"Come here, you." Jacob opened his arms and folded Connie into them, smiling over her head as she relaxed into his arms. She then tensed and pulled away from him, as if there was something she had suddenly remembered.

"Ice Queen voice?"

"We-ell... It's true though, isn't it? I mean, it's incredibly sexy..." He leant down to kiss her lips and she rose up on her feet slightly, before coming down to rest her forehead against his. "But, I know you use it to stop people asking questions, and to stop people from getting in."

She looked into his eyes, before sighing and looking out of the door. "You should go and take Grace..."

"I will. But I need to know that you're okay, too."

"I am." She kissed him again, before taking his hands from her waist and ushering him out of her office.

"I'll see you soon, Mrs Masters." Jacob offered from the doorway, and as he left the room, Connie allowed a small smile to light her face.


	6. Chapter 6

"Do we have to go and pick up Ava?" Grace questioned as soon as Jacob opened the driver's side door.

Frowning, Jacob sat down and shut the door against the cold wind that was whipping around outside. He thought for a moment how Grace had been acting around her sister before replying, "I think she's fine where she is, and I think you and me need a proper afternoon together. I'm thinking a terrible movie, hot chocolates and a pillow fort, what do you say?"

"A pillow fort? I'm not 5." Grace laughed, though she secretly still loved pillow forts. They made her feel safe, and right now that was exactly what she needed.

* * *

Two hours later, two empty hot chocolate mugs rested on a table and a pillow fort had been erected, but while the movie was on, neither of them were watching it. Jacob was still thinking of Connie and Grace, and wondering why everything seemed to have escalated so suddenly when they arrived back on holiday. Grace was worrying whether, now they knew it would upset her, Jacob and her mother would still fight but in private so she wouldn't hear and wouldn't be able to help. In her office, Connie was thinking of her family and what she could do.

"...Jacob?"

"Mm?" He turned his head to look at his step-daughter.

"...Can we sent mum a selfie to show her we're okay in case she's worried?" Though she asked quietly, Grace was soon giggling as Jacob attempted to perfect a pouting pose. A few minutes later, Connie got several picture messages at once, mostly of Grace laughing.

* * *

"Ready?"

"Do you really need to ask?"

He chuckled as Connie took her bag and coat from the stand, taking his hand as they walked out of the ED.

"Are the girls-"

"In the car, and they're fine. Come on, let's get you home." He pressed a kiss to her head.

...

They lay in bed hours later, his arms wrapped around her as she nestled into his side.

"I think that very nearly made up for what we missed out on last night, sweet cheeks."

"Mmm, I think so." She brought her head up to kiss him before nestling back down in the covers again. Neither of them spoke for a few minutes, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. He twisted strands of her hair around in his fingers, smiling as it fell in curly tendrils that splayed on the pillow and tickled his nose.

"I love you." She heard him murmur into her hair, and she smiled, thinking back to the messages he had sent her after the picture of Grace earlier.

"I love you too."

"Mhmm. You know, I think we should do something with the girls this weekend."

"Such as?"

"Well, that I don't know."

"Useless, you are." She muttered affectionately, before closing her eyes and eventually drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Connie was woken the next morning in her favourite way. Gentle kisses were dropped to her lips, there was the smell of fresh, warm coffee in the air, and she could hear laughter in the house. She had been so reluctant to be the sort of woman who married and had a family, but now-

"You left your shoes by the door again, and the girls are having high heel races down the hallway."

Connie groaned and nestled her face into the pillow a little more. "Which shoes?"

"Your favourites." Jacob replied, grinning as Connie was immediately out of bed and pulling on her dressing gown. She rushed out of the bedroom, but her footsteps slowed when she reached the hallway at the front of the house. Her favourite shoes were still sitting neatly side by side next to the front door.

"What-"

"Surprise!" Grace was stood in the doorway of the kitchen smiling as she held out a cup of coffee for her mother. "We all made you breakfast."

Smiling widely, Connie made her way into the kitchen to find all manner of breakfast foods on the table, flour all over the surfaces and her daughters, and a large stack of washing up.

"'Prise!" Ava grinned widely, her mouth already full of the pancake her sister had told her not to eat until Connie had started eating.

A few years ago, perhaps, the mess would have annoyed her, and she knew Grace still remembered that because though she smiled, her eyes looked wary. These days however, Connie was trying to give up the strong control she held over everything, and so instead of yelling, she pulled her eldest into her arms.

"This is perfect, Gracie. Thank you." She dropped a kiss to her head.

"Me too!" Ava rushed towards them like a little flour monster, and when Jacob came into the room a few seconds later, it was to find all three of them laughing and chasing one another with flour all over themselves.

…

Of course Connie was left with the washing up her surprise had made.

"Quite the domestic goddess now, aren't you?"

"Shut up!" She flicked soapy bubbles at Jacob's face, giggling as he put down the tea towel and reached around her waist to take a handful of bubbles from the sink and place them on her nose. "Get off!"

"N-uh, I'm not going anywhere."

"Jacob, I need to finish this-"

"Or we could just go back upstairs and do it later..." He bent around her shoulders to kiss her, noticing how her fingers were now clenched tightly at the rim of the sink. "Or not, I mean upstairs is pretty overrated..."

"We can't." She kissed him once before pushing him away, moving over to take the tea towel from where he had dropped it to start drying up the pan Grace had used earlier.

"At least I know my tactics work..."

"What tactics?"

"Those shoes are like your lifeline, aren't they?"

She raised an eyebrow at him before hitting him gently with the tea towel in response.

"Mummy!?"

Connie sighed before stepping quickly from the room and pausing at the bottom of the stairs.

"Mummy!?"

"Ava?"

"Mummy I can't find my trousers, and Grace says that if I don't then, then I'll have to go to school in my pyjama bottoms!"

"You go. I'll finish this." Jacob took the tea towel from her. "I wonder if anyone would believe me if I told them I'd seen you doing dishes."

"You wouldn't dare!" Connie gave him a glare before slipping from the room.

"Mum, can I come with you to work again? I won't be any trouble." Grace appeared at her mother's elbow as she searched through the ironing basket for her youngest's clothes.

"Have you still got a headache?" She frowned, touching Grace's face gently. "They're usually gone after a sleep.."

Grace shrugged, unwilling to lie even though she didn't want to leave her mother and Jacob alone together.

"Are we having a meeting in laundry?" Jacob gave a loud whisper from the doorway, Ava in his arms.

Grace turned to look at him, as did Connie. They exchanged a quick glance, half of panic and half of amusement before Jacob cleared his throat and bounced Ava gently in his arms.

"Sorry Grace, I didn't realise-"

"It's fine, Jacob. I've lived in this house long enough now, I think I'm used to your ridiculously intimate relationship."

"You do speak like your mother."

This earned a small smile from Connie, who turned back to the ironing basket to fish out a pair of small, pale pink trousers.

"Right Ava, Daddy will go and iron these for you..." She took her daughter from Jacob's arms, exchanging her for the trousers that he held, his expression one of disbelief. "Domestic God?" She whispered in his ear, her lips tickling against his skin, as she left the room, leaving Jacob and Grace.

"Is she okay?" Grace asked as Jacob searched for the iron.

"Your mum? She's fine, Grace." Jacob replied as he stood up. "How are you?"

"Fine." Grace offered, turning away to go and finish her conversation with her mother, but Jacob reached out and took hold of her forearm.

"You don't need to worry, Grace. Me and your mum are okay, i promise."

"It's 'your mother and I'" Grace replied smartly before leaving the room.

"Women." Jacob muttered to himself as he plugged in the iron.

"Mum?" Grace called as she stomped up the stairs. "So can I come to work with you?"

"Gracie, I am a little worried about the fact that it's not gone..."

"It's not really bad-"

She stopped speaking at the clear disapproving look that passed across he mother's face.

"Grace... I'm not going to be around much, and nor will Jacob. I'm just worried..."

"Mum, you don't need to worry. If it goes away in the morning then maybe I will go to school in the afternoon." She had no intention of doing this, but knew that this was a likely compromise. If her mother was so busy then she wouldn't notice if she was still in the department anyway.

"Fine. But bring something to do."

"Thanks, Mum."

Connie ruffled her hair gently before running quickly downstairs and then back up, bringing her shoes with her so that Ava wouldn't wander down to break her ankle in them.


	7. Chapter 7

An hour later Grace, Connie and Jacob made their way into the ED. Grace was cuddled into her mother's side, and this worried Connie as she was usually so independent and hated the thought of doing anything remotely childish. Unfortunately for the group, Kate was the first person they encountered, and she approached with a hesitant smile.

"Hi, Grace."

Grace just glared in response, and Connie felt her grip tighten. In an attempt to show her daughter that she held nothing against Kate, though she wasn't sure still if she did, Connie offered the nurse a smile. "Morning, Kate. How was it overnight?"

"Not too busy. I just wanted to ask...Rita gave me the rota, and it seems like I'm on night shift for…well, the foreseeable future..." Kate attempted.

Jacob saw the caught out look that passed over Connie's face and smirked to himself before replying for her. "It's how we do things. Anyone new gets nights so they can learn how this place works when it's quiet."

When Kate had walked way and the trio were again walking towards Connie's office, Grace glanced up at Jacob. "Was that true?"

"Not one bit." Jacob replied, and his smile widened to a grin when Connie let her hair hang over her face so he wouldn't see the look on her face. "Right, I'd better get to work, but you do what your mum says, and if we're not around, call one of us and don't go wandering through the ED."

"Yes Staff Nurse Masters." Grace replied with an eye roll. When he just walked towards the staffroom, Grace caught his hand, "Aren't you going to kiss mum goodbye?" He looked at her, surprised. Connie's face mirrored his, but the expression was directed at Grace.

He couldn't tell if she was joking, or being serious. He would get changed, come straight out and into her office, as they did every morning. He rarely kissed her on arrival as she preferred to keep things as professional as she could around spectators, although occasionally she would relent. She was in love, professionalism didn't always come first but she tried.

"Well, aren't you?" She looked at Jacob, her grip tightening on her mother's hand. Surely he always kissed her before he went to work, she would be shut in the office for hours usually before she would see him again.

In an attempt to mask the strangeness of the situation, Connie looked at Jacob with her eyebrows raised, a haughty glint in her eye as she beckoned him to come back to her. He sauntered over, understanding how she wanted to play this in front of her daughter and sure enough, practically outside of the nurses' station, they kissed, his hand slipping to her waist and pulling her towards him.

Grace looked around her, seeing how the nurses' eyed them and then talked quietly amongst themselves happily, and she quickly let go of her mother's hand and went into the office, closing the door. They broke apart at the sound of the slam, still holding onto each other.

"What the-"

"I don't know, Jacob."

"...Well, I mean, if she wants me to kiss you more often I'm not opposed to the idea.."

Connie attempted a smile, but was unable to wipe the concern from her face. Jacob tightened his grip around her waist and pulled her a little closer again to drop a kiss to her forehead. "She'll be okay." Connie nodded in reply before resting her forehead against Jacob's chest. After taking a deep breath, she raised her head and also managed to raise a smile before she slipped from his arms and into her office.

Grace was already set up on the couch, a book in her hands, pillows piled behind her and a hospital blanket across her knees.

"Grace-"

"I have to read this book for english." Was all she offered, but then suddenly glanced up. "Can Jacob come in and have lunch with us later?"

"I...well, he might be busy, but we can ask him." Connie replied, but when the frown didn't disappear from her daughter's forehead, she added, "We could walk down to his favourite cafe before lunch and get him something in case he's too busy to go out?"

Grace nodded then, and gave her mother a smile before she looked back down at her book. Connie watched her for a while before turning on her computer, though she knew she'd find it difficult to concentrate. When she next saw Jacob walk past, Connie glanced at Grace and then rose to her feet, leaning out the door to call him over. "Staff Nurse Masters, a word please."

Raising his eyebrows, Jacob approached at a slow pace, a smile pulling at his lips. "You know I told you not to wear that skirt to work." Jacob looked down pointedly at the flowing skirt that ended above her knees.

Connie glanced down, and this time a proper smile pulled at her lips. She'd forgotten the effect the skirt had had on Jacob whenever she used to wear it, and had just pulled it out of her wardrobe that morning without looking. "Behave. Grace wants you to come for lunch with us. I know you'll be busy, but-"

"It's ok. I can make time for two of my favourite girls."

* * *

Connie took Grace to the café at 11, and when they got back they found him sitting in the hospital garden, lying flat across one of the benches.

"Jacob, what are you-"

"These benches go like that, sweet cheeks." He emphasised his point with a click of his fingers, before taking the bags from them, sitting upright putting them next to him. "Okay, Grace?"

She nodded before sitting down in between Jacob and Connie, leaning into Jacob's side. He peered over her head to Connie, his eyebrow raised in amusement. It was bizarre. One minute she was angry and the next she was fine.

* * *

After lunch, Grace decided she would go and help on reception, having convinced her mother that there really was no need for her to go back to school for PE and art, even though she actually had double maths.

"She does a good job on there." Jacob appeared by Connie's side as she walked from cubicles to reception, to check up on her daughter.

"Mmm. I can't help feeling that something still isn't right. You saw how she was with us at lunch compared to earlier. It's like she wants you stuck to me like glue."

Jacob hesitated, aware that it was something Connie didn't like to discuss before he said softly, "She's not had the most stable home life before, Con."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Connie snapped, turning to glare at him. Reaching out, Jacob ran his hands down her arms and then held her hands tightly.

"I just mean...what she's seen in the past is you arguing with people and then those people disappearing from her life. I know we're different, but maybe she doesn't believe that yet. Maybe it will just take time for her to be okay."

"Is everything okay?" Grace had watched them talking for a distance before she finally approached hesitantly.

"I was just trying to convince your mother that we need to go to this ball on the weekend." Jacob held out the invitation he'd been given. "A most auspicious ball, I'm told." The invitation had both Jacob and Connie's name on it, and underneath with the words 'special guest', it had Grace.

Connie glanced at Jacob with a frown, but he gave his head a slight shake, intending to explain it later.

"But what about Ava?" Grace finally asked. "And I'd need a new dress..."

"Ava is sorted, and I have this for you." Jacob held out a gift certificate for Grace's favourite shop. When she glanced towards her mother, Connie offered her a smile.

"A present for being so helpful with your sister on holiday."

After a moment's hesitation, Grace pulled them both into a hug and then rushed away to show her current favourite nurse Robyn.

"Did...Did I just hear you taking credit for my good idea?" Jacob questioned, pulled Connie into him with a smile.

"Maybe." Connie smiled back, adjusting Jacob's shirt. "Are you going to explain to me about this ball and ridiculously expensive gift card?"

"Later. Some of us have work to do, Beauchamp."

"Masters." She tilted her head to look up at him, her fingers paused at his lapel. He took them in his hand and squeezed them before bringing her into his side as they walked to the nurses' station.

"It doesn't have quite the same... Oomph, I must admit. I fell in love with boss lady Beauchamp, it's going to slip sometimes. You don't mind?"

"Of course I don't mind, idiot. But, at this ball..."

On her wavelength completely, he produced the invitation and pointed to where it read "Connie and Jacob Masters."

"All sorted." He pressed a quick kiss to her lips before releasing her, and she watched as he moved over to where he had been called by Ethan.

"Mrs Beauchamp?"

Her head turned sharply, as did Jacob's.

"Sorry, Masters. Mrs Masters, sorry, I..." Cal shook his head, aware of just how awkward and idiotic he sounded in front of her. She stood watching him, her hands on her hips and evidently impatient, as he fumbled to recover himself.

"Yes?"

"I have a patient in..." He recounted the details and she sighed, glancing back at Jacob who grinned at her.

"Yes, yes I'll have a look." She followed Cal down the corridor, thinking of the insert that still lay on her desk, and wondering if maybe now she was finally ready to put it in place.

* * *

An hour later, Grace was pacing the ED just like her mother, with her arms folded and shoes clicking on the floor. "Charlie, have you seen my mum?" When he shook his head, she sighed and returned to the office to call her.

...

"Stop it! I need to get back." Connie laughed as she tried to do up the buttons on her shirt as her husband kept pulling her hands away.

"Five more minutes." Jacob kissed her again, pressing her back against the door to the on call room with a smile as she giggled into his kiss.

"No, I have work to-" She was cut off my Jacob's lips pressing to hers again, and after only a second she gave in, lifting her arms to wrap around his neck so she could pull him closer as his hands slid into her top and wrapped around her waist.


	8. Chapter 8

As the couple walked back towards the ED ten minutes later, Connie glanced at Jacob and then looked away with a smile on her face after he winked at her. He could be very persuasive when he wanted to be.

Her footsteps slowed when she reached her office and saw Grace lying face first on the sofa through the window. "Gracie?" Grace turned her head and Connie saw a glimpse of her tear-stained face before she buried it once more in a cushion. "What's happened? Is it your head?" Connie questioned as she squatted beside her, instantly regretting being gone for so long.

"It's Emma." Grace replied, turning her head again as fresh tears began to fall. "I called dad, and he told me Emma is pregnant."

Connie frowned as she brushed away the hair that stuck to her daughter's tears. "I thought you liked the idea of having more siblings?"

"you don't understand." Grace spoke with frustration and then turned her face away again.

"Explain it to me, then." Connie replied gently as she rubbed her back.

"I won't be important anywhere anymore! You and Jacob have Ava and they will have their baby, and then Emma will love it more just like Jacob loves Ava more! Emma and Jacob were the ones who made me important again!" Grace replied as her tears fell more heavily.

Connie glanced out the door hoping to see Jacob passing before she turned back to Grace. "That's not true, sweetheart. You're still important to both me and Jacob and we both love you just as much as Ava, and I'm sure your dad and Emma will feel the same." When Grace just gave a sob, Connie leant forward to drop a kiss to the back of her head, trying to think what might convince her of this. "You know, before the wedding Jacob asked to see the photo's I had of you before he met you, because he was sad he'd missed you growing up." When Grace's head turned a little towards her, Connie continued. "He looked through every single one of those albums and asked me all about you. How else do you think he knew to mention your favourite bunny toy in his wedding speech? And I know you still have Mr Pembles hidden in your closet, so don't deny you don't still love him."

When Connie smiled at her daughter, Grace gave a weak smile back. "And you think Emma will love me just as much, too?"

"Of course she will, sweetheart."

"But how do you know? You don't even like her."

"That's not... Completely true." Connie decided to say, tactfully. "And I know, because I've seen how much she loves you. It's just like Jacob, Gracie. I know sometimes your dad and I don't exactly see eye to eye, but I know that Emma is a very lovely lady and nothing is going to change just because she and Sam are having a baby."

"I love you, Mum." Grace wrapped her hands around Connie, smiling as her mother stroked her hair, looking at the clock on the wall opposite to see that there was only an hour left of her shift.

"I've got to go, Gracie. Will you be okay in here for a little while longer?"

"How much longer?"

"Just under an hour. You can come onto the nurses' station in cubicles when… if gets a little less busy."

"Okay!" Grace smiled, and lay back down on the sofa as her mother left the office. Connie walked quickly to reception to see the waiting area completely full, and took a deep breath before turning back to check the waiting times. It was looking likely that she would be here for more than an hour.

..

"Hey firecracker, I'm off to get ava if you want to come?" Jacob put his head around the door ten minutes later to be met with a headshake. "Ok, well i wont be long."

"Jacob?" Grace called. When he stuck his head back in she offered quietly. "Emma is pregnant."

"Well, you know babies mean loud crying, so you probably wont want to go there for a while and that means we get even more of you!" Jacob pulled the girl into his arms and she let out a laugh. "See you soon firecracker. And tell your mum if you see her that she needs to change her skirt."

When connie stormed into the office to find her spare stethoscope a few minutes later grace offered, "you need to change your skirt."

"What? Why?" Connie tried to look at her skirt so see if there was anything on it.

Grace shrugged. "Jacob said so."

"Well jacob needs to learn some restraint."

"Why?" Grace questioned, but her mother was saved from answering when ava rushed in.

"Gracie i drew you a picture!"

Connie's head whipped around quickly, completely forgetting that Ava had been staying in the crèche that afternoon.

"Mummy, look!"

"That's lovely sweetheart. Here, go and show Gracie." She picked her daughter up and deposited her on the sofa next to Grace, before glancing at Jacob who tilted his head at her. He was well aware of the situation outside, she needed to leave.

"Go on Con, I'll take them."

She exhaled before looking back to her daughters and nodding.

"Thank you. I'll sent you a text later, then we can get home, and-"

"Get the damn skirt off." He winked at her, kissing her quickly before pushing her out of the office, watching her as walked quickly out of the office to go back to cubicles.

"Daddy, is Mummy okay?"

"Just a bit stressed. She's fine, I'm going to take you two home now and I'll come and pick her up in a bit."

"She said she'd be done in an hour." Grace spoke up from where she was battling with Ava, who desperately kept putting her picture in front of Grace's face.

"There's been a big incident, so they needed everyone they can get, Grace. I've got a special dispensation because you two can't stay here."

"Well i want to stay here, i don't want to leave mum." Grace replied sullenly before pushing ava out the way again.

"Grace, come on, we don't need to do this right now. Your mum will be fine." Jacob insisted, but when grace just shook her head, he squatted down in front of her. "I know you don't like that she has to work a lot, neither do i, but she is doing her best and what we need to do is make sure whenever she's with us that we make the most of her."

"I'm staying with mum." Grace just repeated.

Jacob turned to glance out of the office window and saw that there was already a large amount of people out there, and it would probably get a lot worse. Ava was also tired and on the verge of tears because grace wouldn't look at her picture. "What about the on call room? We can be near your mum but away from everything out there."

"..okay, but you need to go and tell her."

"Will you make sure ava stays in here with you if i go and find your mum?" Jacob asked with raised eyebrows. When grace gave a sigh and nodded, jacob reluctantly left the room.

"Gracie, look. It's a picture of me and you! I drewed you in pink because that's my favourite colour and you're my favourite person! I told my teacher that when i grow up I'm going to be just like you!" Ava smiled widely, and for the first time in a long time grace smiled back at her.

…

"What are you doing in here? Where are the girls?" Connie questioned as she put a hand to Jacob's chest and pushed him out of cubicles.

"Grace doesn't want to leave, so we're going to stay in the on call room, and apparently messenger boy here had to come and tell you. Have I dont something to annoy her, or is she being like this with you as well? Because frankly I've had enough of the attitude. She just pushed ava off the couch!"

"Jacob, I don't have time-"

"Connie, I don't what's got into her!"

"She's twelve, she's just moody. You're man enough for her okay, you can't expect me to deal with her all of the time!"

"That's not what I'm-"

"I know, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to sound like that." She pressed her hand to her forehead before jumping at the sound of shouts from around the corner.

"Easy..." He took hold of her shoulders momentarily before releasing her and deciding that he had little choice but to pose Grace's request.

She wants us to stay here until you're done-"

"No, Jacob I don't want them here." She gestured around her and at the accumulating crowds.

"I suggested on-call-"

"Jacob, it's not fair on you either. Take them home, please."

She turned on her heel back into the cubicle, whipping the curtain closed and leaving Jacob on the other side. He walked back with every intention of making Grace do what her mother wanted. And if she didn't like it, then that was her problem, not his. The ED wasn't always safe when these things happened, and he was keen to get them out as much as Connie was.

He pushed open the door to Connies office with reluctance to find Grace and Ava now sat together behind the desk watching a video. He stayed quiet for a moment just watching them, but soon another yell from inside the ED startled all of them and Ava burst into tears.

"We need to go home, Grace." Jacob shut the door after entering the room and then pulled ava from her sisters lap and into his arms. "And before you argue, your mother-"

"Ok."

"What?"

"I said okay. Come on." Grace picked up her things and opened the door, leaving Jacob with a frown before he followed her. The large, loud crowd in the ED soon made her shrink back into Jacob, and he held Ava in one arm and graces shoulders with the other.

"Will mum be safe?" She questioned him. Before he could answer, Connie appeared and snapped at the crowd, and they quietened instantly. Grace glanced up at Jacob with a smile. "We best not tell them she's all bark and no bite."

"Pardon?" Connie questioned, suddenly in front of them which made grace jump and jacob laugh softly. "I'll be home as soon as I can, sweetheart. You be good for jacob."

* * *

An hour later, and still he had no text from Connie to say she was coming off shift. He had made the girls dinner, and they were now sat in the front room watching television, although he would notice Grace glance to him, and then the clock, every so often.

"I'm just going to..." He motioned to his phone and then outside of the room, and Grace nodded, cuddling her little sister into her arms. She was tired, and worried, but didn't want to cause an argument between her mother and Jacob by being difficult. She strained to listen to Jacob but it was hopeless over the sounds of the programme Ava was insisting on watching; all flashing lights and silly squeaky characters.

* * *

She felt her phone vibrating continuously in her hand as she walked from one cubicle to another, and a quick glance at the screen told her what she already knew. When she next saw Noel, she would ask him to ring Jacob; she didn't have time. She would have to stay at least until the next handover, they were struggling to cope and the atmosphere wasn't helping. It was rowdy, and intensely unpleasant. She had been relieved when Jacob had taken the girls back home, a little of the worry and stress she had been feeling had managed to ebb away. She let the phone continue ringing, making her way quickly to the next patient, shouting at two men in her way to move and find a seat, or leave. Politeness wasn't getting her anywhere tonight.

* * *

Grace looked up as Jacob returned to the room, noticing how he did not smile or seem remotely relaxed.

"She didn't answer, did she?"

"Twenty minutes, and I'll try again. She's been in there too long now, she's a..." He stopped himself, closing his eyes momentarily over the word "liability." Grace glanced back to Ava and curled her knees to her chest as she tried to focus on something else. She wasn't going to see her mother tonight, she would have to deal with that. Jacob was trying, and she could see his worry and agitation, how he contemplated driving to get her before they went to bed. But he couldn't do that, her mother wasn't a child and she had an important job. She knew that.


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N:I'm so sorry I haven't updated this in a while! It's fully written, but I have so much going on that i keep forgetting to post! Would you prefer me to post it all in one go, or do you prefer shorter updates?_

* * *

By the time Kate got to the Ed, late after being stuck in traffic, the ED was no less full. As she approached the staff room, a nurse came scurrying out looking panicked, and when Kate walked in she found connie sat on the couch with her head in her hands. "Mrs be...ah, Mrs masters, is everything okay?" When connie glanced up and she saw the cut on her cheek, kate winced.

"I can't go home like this. Jacob was already on edge about me staying, not to mention Grace." Connie muttered wearily.

"Come with me and I'll patch you up and then call you a taxi. I can sort some extra staff." Kate offered, opening her arm for connie to follow her. When she didn't, kate raised her eyebrows. "Please? The better the fix up job the less hell you're going to get at home."

After another sigh, connie stood and reluctantly followed her colleague. Inside the cubicle, though, what was left of her energy deserted her and connie was surprised to find tears falling. She offered an apology as she wiped her cheeks. "Sorry. I'm exhausted."

"I'm not surprised." Kate dabbed at the wound to clean it. "You've got a stressful job, 2 children and you've just come back from a long holiday. I don't envy you the amount of paperwork you must have."

Connie nodded, but found her tears began to fall even harder the more she tried to stop them. As she opened her mouth to tell kate about how grace was behaving, she suddenly heard her name being called. Jacob was in the ED looking for her.

"I'm not here."

"Connie..." Kate quickly glanced at the woman in front of her as she used her name, but it didn't seem to matter. "I can't just pretend..."

"You can, and you will."

Connie fixed the nurse with a stern glare despite the tears that stung in her eyes, and in her cut that Kate was only midway through cleaning.

"Connie, people surely saw what happened... Ethan, Cal... He's only going to find out from them in probably about two minutes time anyway."

Connie looked up at Kate, defeated. What could she do? The woman had a point, and she was too tired to insist any longer.

"Go." She whispered, and Kate stood for a moment, confused. "Please just, just go."

Connie watched as Kate put down the cotton and quickly left the cubicle. She hung her head, gripping the bed tightly as she waited for the inevitable, her eyes shut tightly. She hoped that the girls were in her office, or in the car. He wouldn't have left them at home, and she hoped that he had had the sense to not bring them through reception and cubicles when it was like this.

She didn't bring her head up as she heard the curtain being drawn back. She felt his warm hands on her small, cold ones as he crouched before her, touching a finger lightly to the skin to the side of her cut.

"I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Please don't say anything." She talked softly, her head still down and her eyes not meeting his.

Jacob's finger brushed her chin and then tilted her head up a little. His lips brushed hers and then a cool cotton pad began finishing the job kate had started. Neither of them spoke as Connie's tears fell, he just brushed them away and occasionally leant forward to kiss them. After placing the last steristrip, jacob finally spoke gently. "All fixed."

Connie mumbled her thanks as she wiped away the tears that were beginning to drip from her jaw. When her hand reached out to pick up her stethoscope, Jacob's hand rested on top.

"No."

"But-"

"I've organised more staff to start. You need to come home."

Connie shook her head, attempting to speak through her tears, but her words were soon muffled as Jacob pulled her into his chest.

"Shh. Come on, home time."

"I need to fix my make up before i see the girls." Connie managed.

"They've gone for a sleepover at my mums. Grace's idea. So no one at home to keep up appearances for, sweetcheeks. Come on." Jacob rubbed her back in gentle circles.

Connie's tears continued for what felt like hours, so jacob just stayed where he was, holding her tightly. Finally, as she stopped shaking and just began to sniffle, he asked softly, "what happened?"

"Not, not important." She struggled as she tried to regain herself, pulling back to sit on the bed whilst Jacob's hands cupped around her cheeks, holding her gaze to his.

"Please, Con." He spoke softly, his fingers brushing the two tears that slipped from her eyes as she closed them and opened them again.

"Some woman thrashing around in resus and I was too close, her ring caught me. That's all." It wasn't the truth, but she was a practiced liar. Others would only ask Jacob if she was okay, and she expected most of the staff would want to erase tonight from their memories as soon as they came off shift anyway, probably with the help of alcohol. They wouldn't tell him what had actually happened.

"Come on." He pressed a kiss to her lips before standing, tidying away the cotton and steristrips on the tray before walking her to her office to get her things. They then slipped from the ED unnoticed, under the cover of the crowds of people who stood and milled around both inside and outside of the department.

"I'm driving. No buts."

She didn't even try to argue. They drove home in silence, he would glance at her every time they stopped at a traffic light, seeing how her head rested against the window, and how her eyes would drift shut every so often. When they arrived at home, she stirred and turned her head to face him.

"I'm really hungry."

"I can reheat some pasta..." He grinned as he saw her expression, illuminated by the glow of the streetlights outside the house.

"I am living the domestic dream."

"Well I suppose... Considering it's just us, and we've had reheated pasta quite a lot recently because it's the only thing I can cook, how about you have takeaway?"

"You've already-"

"For you, sweet cheeks. I'll just steal the chips."

…

An hour later Connie had eaten and was curled up to her husband in bed trying to sleep, but it just wouldn't come. With a sigh, she rolled away and buried her face in her pillow. It was 4am and she was exhausted, but her thoughts would just not stop. As she struggled against her thoughts of work and of Grace, a strong arm suddenly wrapped around her and lips pressed to her shoulder.

"What about a bath?"

"Hm?"

"It helps you sleep." Jacob replied, dropping another kiss to her shoulder before he slipped from the bed to run her a bath.

Rolling onto her back, connie stared at the ceiling. Maybe she should give up her job, or get a less stressful position. Maybe it was her stress that was upsetting Grace. But she had been fine before the wedding. Maybe it was her being married that upset her daughter. Or maybe-

"Come on, sweetcheeks." Jacob suddenly hovered over her holding out a hand. When she took it, he walked her to the bathroom, and then in silence helped her undress. When she made no move to get in, jacob slipped off his boxers and climbed in himself, pulling her in to rest her back against his chest. As he had known it would, the warmth of the water made Connie drowsy and her blinks began to go slower. "Don't fight it. I've got you." Jacob whispered in her ear. Connie's last thought was how much she loved him.


	10. Chapter 10

When connie woke the next day, she was in bed and sun was shining brightly into the room. When she turned to check the time, she found the alarm clock gone and a note from jacob resting there instead. "I've sorted cover for a few days so stay right where you are, and I've told the girls you hurt your face tripping in your heels. They've both done it, so they didn't question it. I'll be back with them about 4, and i hope I find you a little less connie Beauchamp and a little more connie masters. Love you."

* * *

"So, what happened last night?" Jacob asked Robyn casually. As the gossip, she was bound to know.

"She didn't tell you?" Robyn frowned.

"She told me a version of it that i know isn't the whole truth. Come on, Robyn! I know you know." Jacob smiled at her.

She was confused. If Connie hadn't told Jacob about what had happened in resus, then maybe she should refrain from telling Jacob? Connie didn't do anything without having a good reason to. Everyone knew how loved up they were, she didn't want to ruin that by divulging information that wasn't hers to give.

"What did she say, Jacob?"

"Robyn, come on. I'm not falling for that."

"For what, I didn't-"

"I don't want you to try and protect her."

Robyn's face fell in confusion, and she looked up at Jacob as his smile disappeared.

"Please, Robyn. Something isn't right and she's already got so much on her plate right now. She barely slept last night, and if what she says happened did happen then she would have been fine, I'm sure. But she isn't."

Robyn noticed how his voice cracked a little and got quieter, and she reached out an arm instinctively but retracted it quickly.

"Not here. People think you know, so me telling you would look odd. Staff room?"

He nodded, his stomach twisting anxiously. He hoped that Connie had taken the opportunity to relax and sleep, what with her cover organised and the girls out, and he would go home this evening, and do what he needed to do to make things right.

"Okay." Robyn shut the door and went to sit at the table, motioning for Jacob to take the seat opposite. She was confused as to why Connie hadn't told Jacob the truth, and she wanted to know what she had told him for him to not believe her. She fiddled with her hair before she started speaking, propped up on her elbows and faking as much confidence and surety as she could.

"She fainted. She was checking some monitors and she said she needed to step out, so we gave her some space. Cal tried to catch her as she was falling but she caught her cheek on whatever was in his hand-"

"Cal was there?" He had seen the doctor multiple times already this shift, he hadn't said a word. Robyn had said that everyone would have thought Connie would have told him and that was why she was off, but even so...

"He took her to the staffroom to try and calm her down. I don't know what happened after, I'm sorry."

"Oh, I do." He whispered, so quietly that Robyn nearly missed it.

She would have shouted at Cal, and asked to be left alone so that she could compose herself, before beginning to think rationally about how to cover it up so he wouldn't worry.

"You won't tell her I told you, will you?" Robyn finally asked, concerned.

"Course not." Jacob smiled. "Listen, I don't suppose I could ask a favour?"

* * *

At home, Connie usually just wore underwear and a singlet to bed, and when she finally decided to get up, she found nothing that looked comfortable and warm in her wardrobe. In frustration, she'd opened Jacob's side, and small though it was she quickly found a warm jumper that flooded her frame. Slipping her feet into the unworn slippers she'd received from Grace years ago, Connie then made her way towards the kitchen.

When Jacob arrived home, she was lying on the couch watching a bad midday movie and was curled up under one of Ava's blankets. She didn't seem to hear him come in, but jumped when he was suddenly in front of her. "Is it 4 already?" She glanced at the clock, confused.

"No, I've come home early." Jacob replied as he slid off his shoes, trying to keep the concerned frown away despite the state he'd found his wife in. He didn't think he'd ever seen her watch a midday movie, even when she was sick, and she'd definitely never worn his clothes or a pair of slippers.

"Why?" Connie questioned, pushing herself to sit up

"I know I might look like superman, sweet cheeks, but even superman gets tired." Jacob sat beside her and then pulled her back into his chest so she could lie back again.

"But who is-" Connie began.

"It's sorted." Jacob yawned, pulling the blanket back over Connie's bare legs, though she'd kicked it away as soon as she'd seen him. "This movie any good?"

Connie shook her head but made no move to reach for the remote. Instead, she slipped a hand under Jacob's shirt to rest against his skin as she settled down to watch the rest of the movie.

Despite actually being tired, Jacob just watched her. He knew that she probably knew why she'd fainted, and he was desperate to ask her, but he knew if he pushed her too soon, she'd clam up. So instead, he just dropped a kiss to her hair and contented himself with just staying here with her until he had to go and pick up the kids.

"I'm sorry."

His head turned towards her when she spoke, for the first time in nearly an hour.

"What for?"

She didn't answer, but gestured down towards herself as if to say "this."

"You're beautiful." He murmured, catching her chin with his finger and lifting it so he could see her eyes. He kissed her lips softly, noticing how she didn't deem to really respond, before pulling away and watching her head settle into his side. Her legs were curled up on the sofa next to her, and she was so quiet. Not even because she wasn't talking, but her body was just so quiet and unresponsive to him, to anything.

"There's nothing for you to feel like you need to apologise for."

She nestled closer into his side, shutting her eyes again and placing her hand on his ribs. He put an arm around her and stroked her back gently, and checked his watch to see that he had fifteen minutes until he needed to leave. His eyelids felt heavy, but he didn't dare to give in to sleep whilst she was still not herself, just in case she suddenly turned or fainted again perhaps.

"My head..." She whispered more to herself than to him, pressing her fingers just above where the steristrips held the skin together.

"Con, what's happening?" He released his arm around her to sit straighter, instead taking her hands and caressing them, worriedly. He still couldn't understand why she didn't tell him what had actually happened.

She still kept her head turned slightly away so she wouldn't need to look into his eyes and see the concern she knew was in them. Pulling her hands gently from his, she sat up too, pulling her knees to her chest before hugging them tightly to herself. "It's just been so strange recently...Grace..."

"I know, but things are getting better, things are settling down." Jacob reached out a hand to brush away the curtain of her hair that was stopping him seeing her face. After tucking it behind her ear, Jacob let his finger's brush a stray tear away from her cheek. "Please talk to me."

Connie swallowed, shutting her eyes tightly as she shook her head. "I can't. It can't happen."

"What can't happen? You're scaring me, Connie." Jacob moved closer and met with little resistance when he pulled her back against his chest. Legs still pressed tightly to her body, Connie unlinked her arms to wrap them around Jacob's neck as she buried her face into him, still shaking her head. "Are you sick?" He finally managed. She could feel his heart beating harder and faster in his chest, and she knew then that he was scared, but yet she still couldn't bring herself to tell him.

"You need to go or the girls will be waiting." She managed to get out, but her voice caught in her throat and wobbled so much that instead of releasing his hold, Jacob just tightened it.

"Talk to me. Maybe I can help." Jacob attempted, the frown on his forehead deepening as she just shook her head again.

"I can't. I can't." Connie repeated, but when she shook her head, she made the mistake of catching Jacob's eye, and when she saw the concern in it, she couldn't stop the words falling from her lips. "I'm pregnant. I can't do it again..." She whispered, her eyes looking into his, begging him, pleading with him. After the complications with Grace, she had been doubtful as to whether she could have another child yet she did, but now... She was too old to have another baby. She didn't think it would be possible, it wasn't a possibility they had considered once since Ava. Evidently, they should have.

"When did you know?" He spoke quietly but softly, running his fingers through her hair as he did so, noticing how her body trembled with uncertainty and something else, maybe fear. He had no idea how long she had intended on keeping this to herself, he could barely imagine how she must have been feeling whilst he was working.

"Two days ago." She briefly looked down, fiddling with the hem of his jumper that she wore. "I was sick, so I ran some bloods yesterday, before..."

"You fainted."

She looked up at him, her eyes wide.

"How did you-"

"Not important." He pressed a kiss to her hair, holding her to him before resting his head just over hers. "Connie, I love you. I love you so much. I'm not going to force anything on you, you know that." He spoke softly, holding her gaze. He was shocked, but he tried not to let that affect his voice and how he spoke to her, right now she needed his reassurance.

"I can't, I can't have it." She spoke, choked by the idea she was considering and the guilt that she was letting this happen. They both medics, it was a situation they shouldn't even be in.

"Let's think it over for a few days." Jacob spoke gently, and when Connie nodded, he dropped a kiss to her head before he resumed rubbing her back. "It's okay."

Connie felt a weight off her shoulder's from telling Jacob, but a moment later she felt even worse. Both times she'd told him she was pregnant, she'd robbed him of feeling any happiness about it. The first time she'd just yelled it in the middle of the ED and then refused to talk to him again for days, and now... "You need to go and pick up the girls."

"I'll call someone else-" Jacob began, but Connie shook her head.

"YOU need to. In fact, we both do. I'll come too. I'll go and get dressed." Connie pulled away to stand up, and Jacob released her reluctantly, watching as she rushed from the room towards the stairs. When she was out of sight, he sat back and closed his eyes, letting out a long sigh.

He was still in the same position when Connie returned a few minute's later dressed as he'd never seen her before. In jeans, with a fluffy blue and cream jumper, and on her feet were a pair of flats. She's washed her face and applied a little make up, and wore a false smile on her face. "Come on, or we'll be late!"

Jacob forced himself up from the couch and followed her from the house, wondering when he'd next be able to broach the subject and whether she'd even let him talk about it again. "Con-"

"Not now." Connie snapped.

Sighing, Jacob climbed into the car, but when he rested a hand on her knee a moment later, she gripped it tightly.


	11. Chapter 11

"Mummy!" Ava ran straight to her mother, barreling into her middle, her bag rising up over her shoulders and thumping down onto her back on impact.

"Steady, Ava." Jacob reached forward quickly to pick her up, watching Connie as she exhaled slowly, before turning to smile and chatter away with her little girl, offering to take her bag and asking her about everything she had learnt that day. Once they were in the car, Jacob didn't take his eyes away from his wife whose own eyes didn't stray from the road once, she was tense and still the entire way to Grace's school.

They waited in the car park for a few minutes until they saw her come out of the building with a group of girls neither parent recognised. She came over to the car, smiling, and opened the other back door to place a quick kiss to her little sister's cheek.

"Hi, sweetheart. Good day?" Connie turned around to see her daughter, smiling as she saw how happy Grace looked compared to recent weeks.

"It was alright, for school. How's your head?"

Grace looked in concern at the steristrips at her mother's head, and Connie rolled her eyes in response.

"Oh, fine. I just need to walk slower."

Grace giggled, before settling back in her seat. Jacob glanced sideways at Connie, before shaking his head and turning to the window.

"Why don't we all go shopping to pick up a dress for you, Gracie?" Connie asked as she glanced into the rearview mirror, smiling when her daughter nodded enthusiastically.

* * *

An hour later Grace was still trying on dresses. Jacob was sat outside the changing rooms trying to keep Ava occupied because he didn't want to leave Connie alone.

"Has she picked one yet?" Ava asked her mother as Connie walked out with a dress, and then dramatically dropped back down on her seat when Connie shook her head. "Why does she ALWAYS do this?!"

"I'm just getting her a smaller size. We won't be much longer." She offered as she walked past.

Jacob frowned after his wife and then stood up, reaching her just as the dress fell from her hand as she reached out to try and rest against the wall. He caught her before she fell and Ava watched with a frown as her mother seemed to struggled to hold herself up on shaking legs.

"Mummy?"

"Mummy's fine." Jacob offered his daughter a smile as he sat Connie down in the chair he'd just vacated. "Stay here."

"Jacob, I-"

"Stay here." Jacob spoke in a voice that made both Ava and Grace jump, and a moment later Grace stuck her head out of the changing room.

"Mum?"

Connie glanced up at Jacob and then looked down at her lap as Jacob pulled a museli bar from Ava's backpack and put it into his wife's hand. "Eat it and stay here." He repeated before going towards the changing rooms. He sat on a pouffe outside of the changing room of which Grace's head stuck out of. He saw her face fall, and how her fingers bunched the curtain around her.

"Jacob, let's go home-"

"Ava, can you bring the last dress?"

Moments later the little girl wandered in, glancing back worriedly at her mother but handing the dress through to Grace dutifully. She then scurried quickly back to where her mother sat down, the muesli bar unwrapped yet untouched, scared by the tone of voice she had never heard Jacob use before.

"Jacob, I think we should-"

"Try it on, Grace."

She nodded, knowing that Jacob wouldn't ask her to if there was something wrong with her mum. He would be the first person to insist they do this another day. He looked back to where Connie sat, entertaining her youngest daughter, her face pale but otherwise fine. He couldn't understand how she could simply bypass the fact that she was carrying their child, whether she wanted to be or not, and act as though everything was okay. He couldn't just switch his own feelings off like she could, he was never able to. And right now, he had just lost his own control, for the first time in a long while.

Hovering next to her mother, Ava watched her for a moment before reaching out to take the muesli bar from her. Breaking off a piece, she took a bite from it and then held it to Connie's lips as her mother used to do to her. "Your turn, mummy."

Giving a weak smile, Connie took a bite, her eyes glancing towards Jacob. When she saw his eyes on the hand she'd unconsciously pressed to her middle, she quickly pulled it away and instead reached out for some more muesli bar.

After Grace had picked her dress, Jacob led them all from the shop in silence, an arm tightly wrapped around his wife's waist despite the fact the colour had finally come back to her cheeks. Ava skipping along beside them and Grace wondering aloud about which shoes she should wear, Connie let herself imagine for a moment what it might be like to have another child. She and Jacob had already broken up on Grace's insistence when she found out she was pregnant last time. She'd waited until she was actually beginning to show before telling her daughter first, and had been surprised that Grace was excited about having a sibling. When she'd told Jacob, it was only because Grace had mentioned it in front of him, and then all Connie herself had done was confirm it, albeit in a yell in front of every single staff member. Despite the fact she'd felt him watching her, he left it up to her to approach him when she was ready to talk properly, and she didn't think she'd ever thanked him for that. Despite the fact she broke so often under the pressure in those few months, she'd refused to allow Jacob to look after her, either.

Glancing up at Jacob now as he chatted to Grace, Connie wondered if maybe this baby was her second chance. If only Grace would be as accepting, maybe she could let Jacob look after her, maybe she could let them all go through it as a proper family.

But Grace. She couldn't hurt Grace again, not after already causing her so much pain. She'd be so strange with Ava these past few weeks, would it be fair to put this on her too? Would it be fair to bring into the family another person who would take away the attention she got from her mother?

She glanced up at Jacob's profile again then. She could read him so well and could see the smile on his lips didn't meet his eyes. He worked so hard on being calm for everyone else, and all they did was push him, herself included.

When they stopped at the traffic light opposite the carpark, Connie allowed herself to rest a little against Jacob's side, and when she felt his arm tighten around her, she reached down and pulled his hand that rested on her hip a little across to rest against her middle. A moment later, he dropped a tender kiss to her head.

* * *

"Are you feeling better now, Mummy?" Ava tugged at her mother's hand whilst she fumbled in her bag for the door keys.

"I've got them." Jacob reached around her to unlock the door, and Connie guided Ava inside, sitting her on the stairs so that she could unlace her trainers.

"Much better, sweetheart. Now, we'll get you some tea and then how about we watch a film?"

Jacob watched his wife as she continued to chat away to Ava, and then followed Grace through to the kitchen, asking her to put the kettle on and make her mum a cup of tea.

"Is she okay, Jacob?"

Jacob sighed, rubbing the back of his head with his hand.

"Yes. No... Oh Grace, you know what she's like. I doubt she ate lunch, and her fall yesterday has probably made her feel a bit funny."

"Should she get it checked out?"

"I'll ask someone to give her a once over when she's in work tomorrow."

"Thanks, Jacob." Grace hugged him quickly before going to the kettle, and Jacob smiled at her sadly before going back into the hallway.

Connie was hugging Ava tightly to her chest and the girl was looking a little shocked as she slowly moved her small arms around her mother. "Mummy?"

"I love you." Connie spoke fiercely, pulling back a little to brush Ava's hair from her face before she dropped a kiss to her cheek. "I love you so much."

Ava glanced towards her father and then reached up to touch her mother's cheek gently. "I love you too, mummy. You can make broccoli for dinner, if you like, and I will eat it all up."

Jacob gave a sad smile at his daughter's attempt to cheer her mother up before he stepped forward. "Right, bag away, please, and then if you wash your hands you can come and help me with dinner!" Ava nodded, but glanced worriedly at her mother who had lowered her head and put her face into her hands. "Mummy's fine. Come on, upstairs!"

When Ava rushed away up the stairs, Jacob put a hand to Connie's shoulder, but she shrugged him off, standing as she brushed the hair away from her face before offering Grace a tight smile as she appeared with a mug of tea. "Thanks, sweetheart. How about we go into my office and work on your homework while they're making dinner?"

Grace nodded before asking hesitantly, "Can I Skype Dad tonight?"

"Of course." Connie held out an arm for her daughter and then walked with her into the office, turning her back on Jacob who gave a heavy sigh before returning to the kitchen.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Grace. I want to take Emma on holiday just the two of us while we still can." Sam offered his daughter. Sitting on the other side of the desk, Connie once more put her head in her hands, silently cursing Grace's father. "It took me a long time to get reservations at that hotel, and the only time they had available was during school holidays."

"I could come with you?" Grace asked quietly. "I'll be good, I promise."

"I really am sorry, Gracie, but Emma and I need to do this as a family."

At his last word, Connie shot out of her seat and moved around to face the monitor as Grace burst into tears and ran from the room. "Oh, well done Sam. And I thought I was supposed to be the terrible parent. Grace IS part of your family!"

"I didn't mean-" Sam began.

"Oh, I don't care what you meant. Try to think a little more next time before you speak to your daughter, if she ever wants to speak to you again." With that, Connie slammed the laptop shut and went after her daughter. She expected to find her in her room, but when Connie found it empty she rushed back downstairs, her footsteps slowing when she found Grace hugging Jacob tightly and crying into his t-shirt as Ava hugged her sister's waist tightly.

"He just wasn't thinking, Gracie." Jacob talked softly to Grace as she cried, and Connie retreated back up the stairs, her head beginning to spin slightly. Jacob had it under control.

What the hell had Sam been thinking? It would have been kinder to have not mentioned it at all. And then throwing in the "as a family" card really did top it all off. It was like he didn't know his daughter at all, how should would react.

A few minutes later, she decided she'd hidden away long enough and walked slowly down to the kitchen, where Jacob had Grace sat on his knee, and Ava sat cross legged on the floor in front of him.

"Hey you, come here." She opened her arms, and crouched to hold her youngest daughter to her as Ava look back worriedly at Grace.

"He just... Wants to spend some time with Emma. It's a big change for them, this baby, Gracie. You know that." Jacob rubbed her should reassuringly as he talked, stealing quick glances over her shoulder to where his wife knelt on the floor, her arms tightly around Ava. He couldn't help but feel a little sick, knowing that sooner or later his own family was going to have to have a big conversation. The girls needed to know what was going on, and he didn't even know how far gone Connie was. He had tried to work it out but it wasn't a particularly easy, straightforward task.

"Jacob's right, Gracie. Your dad didn't mean for it to sound as though he didn't want you there. That wasn't his intention."

"You don't know that."

"I do, darling." Connie stretched a hand out to touch Grace's knee. "I do, because your dad has a habit of saying things before he thinks about how other people will interpret them. In no way does this mean that this baby, and Emma, are replacing you as his family. He's your father, Gracie. And he loves you."

"Well I wish he wasn't. I wish I had a proper family like Ava does." Grace replied, her voice slightly muffled by the hair that lay over her face.

"You know what? I think you're luckier than Ava. More presents, another family across the pond to spend your holidays with...all Ava gets is my mum around the corner who makes her eat broccoli." Jacob offered softly, earning a groan from Ava at the thought. "Why don't we go and have our dinner now, and then afterwards, we can plan the best school holiday ever, so good that your dad is going to beg to come with us!"

Grace gave a small smile at this and nodded, standing up before pulling her little sister along with her to the kitchen. "Come on, Ava, let's swap our vegetables so you only have peas."

"Thanks, Gracie!" Ava smiled up at her sister as Jacob reached out a hand to help Connie up.

"You see?" Connie spoke softly, as though the situation with Grace was exactly what she'd expected to happen. "We can't, Jacob."

"That's not what I see. I just see that we need to approach things differently than Sam did." Jacob replied, edging her towards the kitchen as he was eager for her to eat something.

With a sigh, she finally followed him.

He made them dinner, and insisted on the children being in bed early so Connie could sleep and rest too. Soon enough, he had taken her upstairs and the house was quiet, save for his low murmurs into her ear as he tried to soothe her to sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N: Guys, I am so sorry it's taken me so long to post updates to this story, but I keep getting locked out of my account and then the doc manager doesn't work. I am still writing, just with a different username. I'm going to post this story in bulk because it's already finished, so enjoy!_

* * *

In the early hours of the morning he woke, subconsciously noting her absence from his side perhaps, or even the distinct feeling of something being wrong.

"Connie?"

There was no answer, and he shifted, struggling to see her in the blackness of the room.

"Con?"

He heard a small shuffle, and then he reached his arm to touch her elbow. She was sat upright in the bed, her knees curled to her chest, her head turned away from him. He sat up and edged closer to her, noticing how cold she was despite it being a warm, July night.

"Hey..." He brushed aside her hair, and felt how her face was damp, and clammy. "Connie, tell me what's going on." He spoke softly, and calmly.

"I don't feel right." She whispered, exhaling as she turned her head to look at him. Her stomach cramped and she groaned sharply, Jacob's hands moving around her as he tried to pull the covers around her for warmth.

"Jacob, stop I'm, I'm too warm..."

"Con, I think we should go to the ED. Ee can do it quietly, Mum will take the girls-"

"No." She said with a definite strength that he hadn't heard from her all day. "They can't know-"

"This isn't right." He slipped from the bed and turned on the bedside light, moving around to her side and lifting her into his arms. She put her hands around his neck and shut her eyes, unsure of what he was doing but in too much pain to argue with him. His sharp intake of breath and sudden tensing of his hold on her made her eyes open with a start, and she grimaced again as her head spun and her stomach knotted.

"Jacob..." She trailed off, before looking to his eyes, determined to finish her sentence and ignore the pain in her head and in her stomach.

"Jacob, what-"

"You're bleeding, Con."

Connie looked down and then back up at Jacob, starting to draw her breaths in sharply as she began to panic. Her arms around his neck tightened and her body shook against him as he rushed her from the room.

…

Jacob wasn't quite sure how he managed to get them to the hospital in one piece, but a short time later his mother was on her way to look after the children and Jacob was barreling into the ED with his wife in his arms. Thankfully, the first person they met was Charlie, who quickly ushered them into an unused cubicle. Though Jacob rested Connie gently on the bed, her arms refused to loosen from around his neck, forcing Jacob to sit on the bed with her. "This is because I said I couldn't have it." Connie whispered, her voice catching in her throat. "Jacob, help me."

Those were words Jacob had never thought he would hear from her mouth. He had waited so long to hear them, but now they'd been said all it did was start an ache in his heart. "Get Elliot." He instructed Charlie, who nodded and quickly rushed away.

"Elliot?" Connie questioned, pulling back only a little, a confused frown on her face. "My Elliot?"

"Yeah." Jacob gave a slight smile, attempting to brush away the damp hair that stuck to her face. "He's been sorting out this place for you."

The man himself rushed in a moment later, and as soon as Connie saw him, the glasses resting on the end of his nose in such a reassuring way, she burst into tears.

"Ssh, Connie..." Jacob moved from the bed to allow Elliot to sit down. He took her in his arms, and Jacob saw her relax on a way that he had never seen her do with any other person other than himself.

"Elliot, the baby-"

"We're going to do a scan as soon as we can."

She exhaled shakily, looking at Jacob who nodded reassuringly.

"Connie, this happened with Grace, remember-"

"Yes, and she was in ITU for weeks, practically brain-dead-"

"Goodness, you haven't made her any more positive, have you, Jacob?" Elliot turned his head to look at Jacob, who smiled sadly at the pair, before moving over to the bed to place an arm around his wife's shoulders, and press a gently kiss to her head.

"But look at her now. You know the risks, Connie, you've had two children already. Let's seen what shows up on the scan, first." Elliot squeezed her hand, and Connie looked up, her eyes teary and red. She was shaking and pale, but not much could be gauged from that in terms of her condition, her fear and anxiety were contributing in a major way to that.

Charlie re-entered a few minutes later, wheeling the ultrasound scanner. Connie glanced upwards to Jacob, closing her eyes as she rolled up her top. She heard his gentle intake of breath at the tiny amount of swelling around her middle, and she turned her head sharply to the screen on feeling the freezing sensation on her stomach.

"Cold." She winced, earning a small, depleted chuckle from Jacob. She waited until the picture emerged, and when it did her eyes scanned quickly over the image, before focusing intently on where Charlie's finger pointed.

"There's a heartbeat, strong and steady." He offered with a smile. "And I'm no expert on this sort of thing, but I'd say you're about 9 weeks."

Jacob pulled his wife a little closer and dropped a kiss to her head. "I'd say that was probably the last time you wore 'that' skirt."

Connie managed a small smile at this, but was unable to focus on anything but the beating heart of her baby. The baby she'd thought about getting rid of. Tears stung once more in her eyes and she turned her face to bury it into Jacob's side.

"We'll put a monitor on you so we can keep an eye on the baby whilst we do some further testing, and we're going to put an IV bag up." Elliot squeezed Connie's shoulder. "But if I know anything about your offspring, it's that they're as stubborn as you are."

Once Elliot and Charlie had left the cubicle, the parents were left alone with only the company of their baby's heartbeat. Jacob sat beside his wife and just rocked her gently, his eyes on the small bump on her middle, wondering when it had appeared and how he hadn't noticed. When she was pregnant with Ava, by the time he'd found out there was already an expertly disguised bump, and by the time Connie had allowed him near her she was almost 7 months gone. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Connie drawing in a breath to speak.

"I didn't mean it."

"Didn't mean what?"

"...That I couldn't...that I didn't..." She attempted.

"Shh." Jacob dropped another kiss to her forehead. "I know. But this time will be different, because I'm here to look after you, and Grace will be fine. The only one we need to worry about is Ava throwing a tantrum because she's no longer the baby of the house."

Connie managed another smile at this before raising a hand to brush away old tears from her cheeks. "You're getting a vasectomy after this one."

"Oh, I am, am I? Maybe you should just stop wearing that floaty skirt." Jacob teased, earning a wider smile from his wife before she rested against his side once more.

…

"It's just a bug."

Charlie came through again an hour later, after Connie's insistency of waiting for her bloods to return without being fast tracked. The relief on both Connie's and Jacob's faces was quickly followed by a soft chuckle from Jacob, who wrapped his arms tightly around his wife before pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"You're both going to be absolutely fine." Charlie smiled, touching his hand lightly to her shoulder before leaving again, ushering away the members of the department who had by now heard that the clinical lead had been admitted, and soon enough they would know she was expecting.

"Anything for some time off work, hey?" He smiled at her, stroking her hair from her face as she lay back down on the bed, her fingers lightly tracing circles on the skin of her stomach. He gently placed his hand over hers, so they lay flat together on top of the small bump, and he could feel how his throat began to ache.

"I love you." He whispered, first pressing his lips to the side of their hands and then to her lips, before sitting back on the bed and taking his phone from his pocket, scrolling up the screen for a substantial amount of time before placing it back down on the bed.

"Ah. I think we might have some explaining to do." "Hmm?" Connie asked sleepily, roused from the safe half sleep she'd found herself enveloped by.

Jacob held up his phone, showing multiple notifications from both Grace and his mother. "I'll just go out and call my mum, I won't be long." He dropped a kiss to her head before standing up.

"What will you say?" Connie questioned, stretching herself now there was more room on the bed before her hand moved to rest on her middle again.

"I'll just tell my mum for now, we can work out how to tell Grace when you're feeling better, and in the mean time I'll tell her you've got a virus." Jacob went to pull the curtain aside, but hearing low murmurs on the other side, he slipped out instead, raising his eyebrows at the group who stood nearby before he made his way outside.

"Jacob? What's happened? I've seen your bed." His mother spoke as soon as she answered the phone.

Shutting his eyes momentarily at the memory, he managed, "The girls didn't see it, did they?"

"No, I changed it while they were still asleep." She heard her son sigh and immediately assumed the worst. "Has she...have you-"

"She's pregnant. About 9 weeks. She's got a virus that's knocked her out and caused the um..." He was unable to say the word bleeding and just cleared his throat before continuing. "Would you be able to take the girls to school? We should be back home by the time they've finished."

"Of course. I'll pick them up as well and drop them over with some dinner so you can stay with Connie." Martha offered kindly as Jacob yawned and then rubbed his face sleepily, already aching to get back to his wife. "Grace has been phoning you since she woke up an hour ago, should I tell her?"

"No! Not about the...not yet. Can you put her on the phone, please?"

A second later, Grace pulled the phone from Martha's hands. "Jacob? Is mum okay? Are you okay?"

"We're fine, Gracie. Sorry I couldn't answer your calls, but I had my phone on silent. Your mum has just picked up a virus from one of the patients and she woke sick in the night."

"Do you think that's why she fell over?" Grace questioned, although she began to look relieved.

"Probably. Listen, my mum is going to take you both from school and pick you up, but we should be home later today. And there's no need to worry about your mum, I'm looking after her." Jacob offered softly before he realised with a panic that Charlie was motioning for him to come in urgently. "I need to go, but I'll send you a message if anything changes."

With that, he hung up the phone and jogged to his colleague, "Charlie?"

"She's fine, but rather insistent that you find her a cheese and tomato toasted sandwich." Charlie replied.

…

"You hate tomatoes." He reappeared minutes later, amused by her sudden change in temperament.

"Well, I don't now. And take your jumper off, you're making me feel hot."

"You know you're hot, sweet cheeks-"

"JACOB!" She smiled despite her annoyance, and he rolled his eyes as he removed his jumper and settled in the chair next to her bed.

"At least it's savoury this time..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She spoke, before taking a large bite and settling back into the bed.

"Grace got quite excited by the amount of sugar in our house last time. It won't be so hard to wean her off cheese and tomato sandwiches."

She laughed, brushing crumbs from her as he continued to chatter away, before noticing she wasn't really responding. He smiled sadly at her, tapping her nose affectionately.

"They're going to move you upstairs in a bit, you bed-blocker..." She jabbed his ribs sharply with her elbow, but he barely even winced, he wrapped his arms around her and laughed as she struggled to bring the sandwich to her mouth. They looked up quickly on hearing the curtain pull back, and Connie cleared her throat placing the half eaten sandwich in Jacob's lap.

Jacob rolled his eyes, moving back as the porters walked in to move her. Despite trying to give her usual icy glare, when the bed moved and Jacob was out of sight, her heart rate began to increase and she was unable to stop herself calling his name.

"I'm still here. As is your sandwich." Jacob offered from behind the head of the bed. Reaching down, he took the hand that rested on Connie's pillow and gave it a tight squeeze.


	13. Chapter 13

When the IV finally finished, Connie's bleeding had finally stopped and she'd been thoroughly assessed by an obstetrician, she was given some antibiotics to continue at home and discharged. Throughout the whole process, Jacob stayed right by her side, but when he offered to go and move the car closer to the entrance so she wouldn't have to walk far, Connie felt the uncomfortably familiar rise in her heart rate. Sensing her unease, Jacob dropped a kiss to her forehead. "Won't be long, sweet cheeks."

Though he'd intended to help her dress in the clothes that Elliot had found, by the time Jacob returned, Connie was fully dressed, sitting on the edge of her bed trying and failing to pull on her shoes with hands that felt heavy from the medication she'd been given. Silently, Jacob squatted down in front of her as he'd done for Ava hundreds of times before and slid on her shoes. When he was done, he glanced up at his wife to find her giving him a tired smile. "Home?"

Connie nodded, and when Jacob stood up, she wrapped her arms around his neck so he could pull her up too before she hugged him tightly, burying her face into his shirt as she'd done the night before. "I love you."

"It's going to be okay, I promise." Jacob spoke gently into her ear before he wrapped an arm securely around her waist to guide her to the car, well aware that she would rather walk than be seen in a wheelchair. Despite the fact Jacob held most of her weight on their way down to the car, as soon as she was sat down, Connie was asleep, leaving Jacob to do up her belt.

Resting his head on the headrest, Jacob let out a long sigh. It had been a long, tiring day, but at least Connie had finally let him in. He hoped it would stay that way.

"Jacob?" Connie mumbled sleepily.

"Mmm?"

"Will you look after the baby while I sleep?" She reached out for his hand and rested it on her middle.

"I think I need to ask Elliot what medication he's given you, I quite like this new Connie." Jacob teased.

Connie gave a sleepy laugh and shut her eyes once more

The next day, after a more peaceful night for the first time in a while, Connie woke with a smile. She snuggled closer into the side of her husband, who responded with a soft groan as he stretched and wrapped her up in his arms.

"Morning, you." She tilted her head to kiss his lips softly, and he murmured slightly, still half asleep. She laughed, and wriggled her legs from where they had become tangled in the duvet as she slept. As she did so, it fell from his body, and she laughed as he sat bolt upright, snatching at air as she pulled the covers completely off the bed.

"You're a nightmare, you are." He pulled her over to sit across him, laughing as he kissed her and stroked his fingers through her hair. Today, the girls were coming back from his mum's, and he and Connie were going to make the announcement. She seemed happy about it, but still Jacob knew she was nervous.

"Come on. Let's get some breakfast."

"I'm not hungry." She shrugged, swinging herself from the bed and shrugging on her dressing gown.

"You won't be saying that in an twenty minutes' time, I assure you."

"Oh?"

"Mm. But, it's up to you if you don't want my pancakes."

Connie groaned and reached out to try and pull him from the bed. "Don't mention your pancakes and then stay right where you are!"

Smiling, Jacob allowed himself to be pulled from the bed and then marched towards the kitchen. "Can I at least get dressed before I do your bidding, Queen B?"

"No. It adds to the fun." Connie smiled, settling herself on a kitchen stool. Though her stomach was in knots at the thought of what had to happen that evening, she'd decided that maybe if she was falsely happy, maybe the girls would really be happy.

...

"Mummy!" Ava raced into the room and was about to jump on top of her mother on the couch when Jacob appeared and caught her, pulling her into his arms.

"Mummy?! What, no excitement about seeing daddy?" He questioned, tickling Ava and making her squirm and giggle before he rested her gently beside his wife.

"Are you better?" Ava questioned her, stroking Connie's hair gently.

"Almost," Connie smiled and drew the girl into her arms as she gave Martha a thankful smile. "Thanks for...everything. Where's Grace?"

"Just outside saying goodbye to a friend who lives across the road!"

Raising his eyebrows, Jacob glanced out the window. "No one I've ever seen before." He stepped aside as Connie glanced out, and then a moment later Ava joined them at the window. Grace looked happy, properly happy, which these days seemed quite unusual. When she saw everyone at the window, she gave her usual eyeball but Connie was surprised to see she smiled as well.

"Mum!" Grace quickly slipped off her shoes and ran to hug her mother, who lost her balance and was caught by Jacob's quick arm at her elbow. He glanced at her, at how her eyes had widened and her breath had hitched, and then at Grace, who apologised over and over, guiding Connie to the couch.

"It's okay, darling. Ava, come here." She motioned for her to sit on her lap, and she held Grace to her side as Jacob took a seat opposite them, leaning forward to close the distance between him and the girls. He nodded to Martha, who stood now in the doorway and she glanced to Connie, before making her way into the kitchen. She had to be honest, her daughter in-law made her nervous, but she was a brilliant mother to her grandchildren, and she made Jacob irrevocably happy. She had never seen her son so calm and so settled until the last few years; she could only hope that it would last.

"Mum, what happened?"

Grace looked at her mother intently, squeezing her hand as she did so. Connie glanced from Grace to Jacob, before sighing and holding the girls close to her.

"Mum?"

"Gracie, Ava..." She looked up to Jacob as she spoke, not breaking his gaze for fear that if she did, the sudden overwhelming urge to back down and suppress what she knew she needed to say would win over.

Jacob offered her a gentle smile, one hand reaching out to touch her knee and squeeze it gently.

When Grace saw this, a frown darkened her forehead, and before her mother could continue she said, "You're sick, aren't you? I'll have to go and live with dad and Emma. Just when I've made a proper friend!" She stood, upset, but Jacob captured her hand to drew her to him, nodding his head at Connie to continue.

"I'm not sick, Gracie, and you don't have to go anywhere." Connie reassured her, dancing around the issue because her stomach was in knots.

"Then what is it?" She questioned, leaning into Jacob nervously.

"...I'm going to have a baby." Connie finally managed, her eyes still on Jacob's who offers another smile, hoping that the hardest bit was over.

Ava was the first to speak, and her words brought a smile to her mother's face. "..Will it be here for my birthday? Then I'd get another present."

"It won't be here until christmas time, sweetheart." Connie replied, stroking her youngest hair though her eyes were still on Grace who stared at the floor.

"...Where is it? Do you have it, or does daddy have it?" Ava then questioned innocently, earning a soft laugh from Jacob and a shocked look from his wife.

"It..well...I have it, Ava. It's in here." Connie put her hand to her middle, finally laughing herself when Ava frowned and pulled up her top a little.

"Where does the egg come out?"

"I think we need to fill her in on some things." Jacob laughed, squeezing Grace a little as he worried because she'd remained so quiet.

"How long have you known?" Grace finally asked quietly, her eyes not moving from the floor. "Is that why you were sick yesterday?"

"Only a couple of days. I picked up an infection from a patient and I lost some blood, but I'm fine and so is the baby." Connie hoped by being completely honest with her daughter, she might be more willing to accept another sibling.

"But where does the egg come out?!" Ava demanded, pushing her mother's small bump gently.

Jacob stood then, pulling the youngest into his arms to take her from the room, hoping leaving Connie and Grace alone might help the situation. Giving his wife another smile, Jacob carried Ava from the room, intended to find something which would explain to her what was actually going on.

"Gracie?" Connie finally questioned gently, the silence unnerving her.

"I'm sorry, Mum." Grace looked up at Connie, before resting her head to the side of Connie's arm, just below her shoulder.

"What are you sorry for, sweetheart?"

"I am happy. I'm really happy for you and Jacob, I am." She smiled up at her mother, who smiled back, the relief passing through her eyes before being replaced with worry as she knew there was something else to come.

"That's very grown up of you, Gracie. But what's worrying you?"

"I just don't fit, Mum." Grace looked down as she whispered, edging from her mother's side to sit straight against the back of the couch. "I don't look like Ava, and I'm not going to look like the new baby. I won't look like Dad's new baby. And I know I look like you, and like dad, and I know that Jacob is as good as, better than a real dad to me." She looked back up to her mother, whose eyes were teary as she listened to Grace talking. "Mum, please don't get upset..." She reached over her mother's shoulders to pull her into a hug. "You've got these two perfect children with Jacob..." She pulled back, her voice wobbling now. "And I just ruin it."

Connie's eyes flickered shut for a moment as she tightened the grip she had on her daughter. "Grace, you don't ruin anything. I wanted you for so, so long and I fought so hard to have you in my life...I don't care if you get cross or upset or snappy, Grace. I love you and I can't imagine my life without you!" Connie pulled back then and took her daughter's face in her hands, wiping away tears. "You don't ruin anything, Gracie. You're my baby girl and I can't imagine my life without you." As her mother whispered those words, Grace moved to bury her face into her mother's top to muffle the sound of her tears. "Is this because of what your father said?"

Grace finally gave a small nod, sniffing loudly. She'd been thinking about it for hours and every second that passed it seemed to hurt more. Her father had a new family, and her mother did, too. So where did she fit in?

"Well I think you know by now that I think your father is a stupid, arrogant man." Connie spoke fiercely and this brought a small smile to her daughter's face. "I don't know what he was thinking saying that, Grace, and I'm so, so sorry you had to hear it, but your family is here, with me. I love you just as..more, maybe, than I love Ava, because I know what it feels like to lose you. Jacob loves you, too. And as for Ava, you're her big sister and she wants to be just like you. Pretty soon I'm going to end up with 2 snappy little girls who know how to put me in my place."

Grace pulled back a little, her face now red with tears and her hair stuck to her cheeks. "But I panic all the time and i get scared, but Ava is always happy, and if the new baby is like her-"

"I know why you get panicky and scared, Gracie, and it's my fault, not yours. I was not..." Connie paused for a second to draw in a deep breath, for she'd never really said this out loud before. "I was not a good mother to you when you were younger, but I'm trying to make up for that."

Jacob, who was hovering in the doorway, watched them for a moment before slipping back to Ava where was was study a large children's book about birth he'd found on Connie's office bookshelf, Grace's name written neatly in the cover.

Hours later, Jacob found Connie sitting on Grace's bed, stroking her hair through her fingers as she slept. It wasn't far from midnight now, and he had expected her to already be in their room by the time he had finished shutting the windows downstairs. He stood in the doorway, watching his wife as she murmured quietly to her daughter, before coming to stand next to her and touching his fingers gently to her shoulder. Her head turned to look at him, before turning back to Grace once and then easing herself from the bed, walking past Jacob and across the landing to their room.

"How are you feeling?" He took her arms and settled with his back against the doorframe, pulling her close to him as he tilted his head to look at her.

"Pretty good." She gave a smile, which widened as Jacob bit at his lower lip and swung their arms gently together, intertwining their fingers. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because... We're having a baby. And you're it's mother and absolutely nothing else could make me any more happy." He kissed her head, before standing a little straighter and bringing her tightly to his chest, his hands resting around the curve of her back. "I say this, but actually I'm not sure how I'll cope with another mini-you."

"Well that's rude."

"True though. Ava's already nailed it."

"Nailed what?"

"The stare. I get it every morning when breakfast isn't already ready and waiting." He mimicked his daughter's expression, earning a laugh from Connie as she slapped his arm lightly.

"You never know, it could be a mini-you."

"Nah. Come on, those Beauchamp genes are a force to be reckoned with. Mine don't stand much of a chance."

"Would you like it to be a boy?" She spoke softly, looking up at him as his hands drifted to her middle and lingered there.

"Whichever, it's a part of you and a part of me. That's all I want, Connie."

Connie gave a small smile and then glanced back at grace. "..i think i want to sleep in here tonight."

Jacob dropped a kiss to her hair. "Go and get changed, then, and I'll stay here incase she wakes up."

Connie gave another smile and reached up a hand to brush his cheek. "I love you."


	14. Chapter 14

As it wqs Saturday, everyone finally got to enjoy a sleep in. Everyone but ava, that is. Up at her usual time, she checked to make sure everyone was asleep before she snuck downstairs to put her mum's heels on. Spying the bag with Grace's new dress still by the door, she soon pulled that on too and then rushed into the kitchen. She was dressed like a grown up, so she would make herself a coffee like her parents always had.

Climbimg onto a kitchen chair, she pulled out a mug and turned the kettle on, pleased with herself. She might make grace one, too.

"Grace, have you seen my weights? Your mother took theme out of the room and is refusing to tell me where-" Jacob stopped in his tracks as he saw Ava wobbling precariously on a chair at the counter, before he realised she wore Grace's dress and Connie's heels. He then saw what she was holding, and ran over to her to extricate the kettle from her fingers and place it back down, lifting her from the chair to sit on the surface.

"Ava, what are you doing?! The kettle is dangerous, you don't touch it!"

"I wanted to give you a-"

"Heart attack!"

"Surprise. I was making coffee, daddy."

He shook his head in exasperation, helping her to wriggle of the dress that she was truthfully finding too scratchy and uncomfortable.

"Leave that to me. Shoes." He held out his hand, unable to suppress a smile at his daughter's facial expression. "Come on, what will mummy say?"

"She doesn't know!"

"Ava, mummy knows everything."

Hovering outside the door, Connie took a few steps back and then called, "Ava, I hope you're not wearing my shoes!"

Startled, Ava kicked them off and hopped from foot to foot as Jacob rushed out the other door from the one his wife walked in. "I wasn't!"

"And why is Grace's dress out if you weren't playing dress-ups?" Connie raised an eyebrow, biting back a smile at her response.

"Daddy wanted to try it on!"

"Well I think we both know that's a fib, your daddy wouldn't fit into that dress!" Connie replied, finally smiling as Jacob re-entered and grumbled.

"He will be able to if you don't tell him where his weights are."

"Alright, muscles. You agree not to keep them in the bedroom, like I've asked you a thousand times before, and then I will tell you." Connie ruffled her daughter's hair. "Go and get dressed, sweetheart. Grace wants to go out for breakfast."

Excited, Ava ran from the room as Jacob examined Grace's dress and then folded it up to put it back into the bag. "How is she?"

Connie gave a shrug, wrapping her arms around herself to ward off the chill before Jacob's hands ran down her upper arms and forced her to unfold them so he could take her hands. "And how are you?"

"Fine."

"Good fine, bad fine, Jacob leave me alone fine?" He questioned, eliciting a smile.

"As if you'd leave me alone anyway."

"You know he too well, sweet cheeks." Jacob dropped a kiss to her forehead and then pulled her close, smiling when Connie hugged her back. "Did you drop the girls off okay?" She stood at the counter in the kitchen, turning around on hearing Jacob come through the door.

"Yep. Usual moaning and groaning aside from the eldest."

She rolled her eyes in response, and reached up to take two mugs from the shelf above her head. "I spoke to Henrik whilst you were out, I'm going back in tomorrow."

"Are you-"

"Yes. And you've spent far too much time at home anyway, I can't have you getting used to it."

"What would I do without you?" He reached around to take the coffee pot, dropping a kiss to her hair as he took off the lid and spooned two generous meassures into either mug.

"Oh, I was meant to ask." She pulled away from him, placing her hands on her hips and tilting her head towards him. He sighed, knowing that this was the tell tale sign that he had done something wrong. "What was she doing down here on her own?"

"I have absolutely no idea."

"I'm not falling for that one."

"She was up early, and she was just messing about in the dress and your shoes."

"So there is water all over the side and the floor because?"

Jacob turned his head quickly, groaning as he saw the puddle of water that must have shot from the kettle in his rush to take it away from his daughter. It dripped onto the tiles of the floor, which of course did not go unnoticed by his wife. He turned back to her, sighing and about to try and explain without getting his head bitten off, before he heard footsteps running down the stairs.

"Mummy! Mummy we're ready!"

"Just a minute darling, we need to-"

"Nope, come on, let's go!" Jacob ushered his daughter from the room, internally thanking whatever fortune had bestowed him that morning, before turning back to see Connie still standing in the kitchen, unimpressed. "I think you should go like that." He nodded at her, she was wearing one of his shirts which trailed just to her knees and her hair was beautifully messy and tufty, but she simply scooped Ava from him, muttering about "blood silly daddy" as she stomped up the stairs, leaving Jacob in the hallway chuckling.

He'd just finished cleaning up the water when Grace walked into the room hesitantly, arms folded around herself as her mother had done moments earlier. "Jacob?"

"Grace?" He glanced up at her before turning to ring out the cloth into the basin.

"..I want to do it." Grace said with determination.

"Do what, firecracker?" Jacob questioned, turning back to give her his full attention.

"..I want to change my surname so I can be like Mum and Ava. And you." Grace spoke nervously, and when she saw Jacob's hesitation, the frown on her forehead deepened and she stepped away. She thought' he'd want this.

Finally finding his voice again, Jacob stepped forward and spoke gently. "You know I'd love that Grace, but I think that's something you need to discuss with your mother and father. And I don't think it's something to consider while you're angry with him."

Before Grace could reply, Connie and Ava entered the room, Connie's footsteps slowing when she saw the look that passed between them. "...Ready to go?"

Grace nodded, storming past her mother to wait outside, Ava rushing after her.

"What-" Connie began, but Jacob shook his head, leading her out of the kitchen. "No, Jacob, what-" Connie attempted again.

"How do I always manage to look underdressed when I go out with you three?!" Jacob deflected with a grin as they met the girls by the front door.

"Girls, the car's open." Connie ushered for Grace to take Ava, and grabbed Jacob's arm as he made to follow them.

"She wants to take my name, I said she needed to-"

"What did you say?!"

"I was just going to say, stop interrupting."

She sighed, and tilted her head as a sign for him to continue.

"I said she needed to speak to you and Sam."

"Sam has nothing to do with it-"

"Connie, he does-"

"No! I wanted her to have my name, so there's no reason for her to not have it changed, as long as that's what she wants."

"But he should know. I'm not her father-"

"Grace doesn't even have Sam's name and he'said her father!"

Jacob sighed, knowing whatever he said now make little difference. "Let's do this later, okay? Come on, a bit of breakfast will do you some good, moody."

"Don't you call me-"

"Oh, don't dispute it sweet cheeks, you know you are." He pressed a quick kiss to her lips before locking the door, jogging over to her car to open the passenger door for her.

Both Grace and Connie were quiet over breakfast, leading to Ava and Jacob having to be even sillier than usual, but after being snapped at by Grace, Ava grew quiet as well, making Jacob give a loud sigh before staring down at his food. He felt he needed to do something to make everything right for everyone, but everything he tried recently seemed to fail.

Matters were then made a million times worse by the person who walked through the door. Under the table, Connie's hand suddenly reached out and grabbed Jacob's tightly, and when he glanced towards her, he saw Sam Strachen walking through the door. His eyes were searching for someone, and before anyone could utter a word he'd seem them and approached the table. Hands full of present, Jacob noted with dismay. Just what Grace needed.

"You don't change much, do you Connie? you used to come here years ago. Hi, Grace!" Sam opened his arms to his daughter, but she didn't even raise her head, instead setting her jaw into a familiar line that Connie knew meant she was about to yell.

"What are you doing here, Sam?" Connie's voice was cold, and for a moment all Jacob could think of was that even at her angriest she'd never spoken to him that way.

"Is one of these for me?" Ava asked innocently, trying to peer into one of the bags Same held before Jacob pulled her away and onto his knee.

"You can have them all. I don't want them. Can we go, mum?" Grace questioned, still not looking at her father.

"Gracie..I'm so sorry about what I said. I've flown all the way from America to tell you how sorry I am. With some of your favourite things, I might add."

Jacob tried never to interfere with Connie or Sam where Grace was concerned, feeling it wasn't his place, but now he was unable to stop the words snapping from his mouth. "You can't buy her happiness with presents."

"I don't think you get to comment on what I do, Jacob." Connie's hand tensed in Jacob's, and he gave it a reassuring squeeze. She then looked to Sam, her expression turning from one of shock and surprise to one of anger.

"He's been more of a father to your daughter than you've ever been-"

"Connie, that's not fair-" Jacob tried to interrupt her, but she dismissed him.

"Who took her when you couldn't cope, Connie?"

"YOU'RE HER FATHER, THAT WAS YOUR JOB." Grace moved to squeeze beside Jacob, who now held both girls next to him as their mother confronted Sam.

"It was your job as her mother-"

"Don't you dare-"

"Connie, I just want to spend some time with Grace."

"Well your daughter doesn't want to spend time with you. Not after your little 'this is all about my family but not about my daughter' chat." People in the restaurant had now turned to look at them, and Jacob decided that perhaps he should intervene before the accusations became increasingly personal as they no doubt would.

"Sam, go to the house. Give us twenty minutes to finish here, and then we'll all sit down and talk."

Connie's head whipped around, about to ridicule Jacob's idea but before she could, something told her that in fact, this was probably the better idea. At least then, they'd have some privacy, the girls could go out with Jacob and Sam and her could talk.

Scared by the yelling, once Sam had gone, Ava insisted on sitting with her mother and refused to eat anymore. As everyone else just played with their food as well, Jacob soon paid the bill and escorted his family out. Grace remind quiet, dragging behind them towards the car.

"Why don't I taxi home and you can stay in town with the girls for a while?" Connie questioned Jacob softly so neither child would hear.

Jacob glanced at his wife warily. He was unwilling to leave her alone with Sam in what he knew was a volatile situation, but he also didn't want to submit either Ava or Grace to the situation. Finally, he gave a soft nod. "Grace, how do you feel about going to see that new movie you've been on about all week?"

Grace's eyes flew up to Jacob before moving to her mother who usually vetoed the idea of going to the movies. "Now?" When Jacob nodded, she glanced towards Connie again. "What about Dad?"

"I'll go home and talk to him, sweetheart." Connie offered with a smile. "And when we've discussed everything, you can come home and see him, or I'll ask him to go."

"...Okay." Grace nodded, secretly relieved because she knew there was going to be yelling involved.


	15. Chapter 15

It took another 5 minutes to pry Ava from Connie's arms, so by the time Connie arrived home, Sam was even more worked up than he had been. Paying the driver, Connie took a deep breath and then slipped from the car.

"How dare-"

"I think we should do this inside, unless you've suddenly developed a love of public confrontation?" Connie snapped, walking past him with the house keys in her hand.

He was silent as he stood in the hallway, gazing around at the rooms around him on either side. It was so homely. He'd been once before, but not since Ava had been born, and it shocked him now just as much as it had done the first time he had visited. He knew that she would never have imagined her life like this all those years ago, when they had first met; her house full of toys and children and laughter. She walked through to the kitchen and he followed, looking around him to see not a wine glass in sight, but a full fruit bowl and cereal packets lining the counter.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" She leant against the island in the centre of the room, glaring at him pointedly, her hands on her hips. She broke his reverie, and his own expression immediately hardened, his eyes turning from the objects around him directly onto her.

"I came to see Grace, your car was parked outside-"

"You can't just turn up like that, Sam! She has a family here, and after what you said to her-"

"Oh, come on-"

"No, Sam! It's not fair on her. You can't just do this and expect her, expect us all, to be okay with it. Where's Emma? Don't tell me you just left her-"

"Connie, she's my daughter, I came to apologise-"

"No." She dismissed him with a wave of her hand, and he tilted his head towards her. "You need to go back. Start your family, make it up with Grace once you've got everything settled. She's got too much on."

"Connie-"

"I have to think about what's best for her, and for Ava. And right now that's you leaving." She adjusted her hands, and as Sam's gaze lowered to watch her it clicked into place. She wanted him out of the way, because there had already been trouble here, presumably with Grace. And right now, he could guess why.

"You're pregnant." He gestured towards where her hands rested, his eyes briefly flicking over her head to the cabinet where every glass was stacked neatly away.

Before Connie could reply, Sam gave a nod. "I can understand everything now. Grace would have been happy for Emma and I, but you got in first, she got upset, and then when I told her Emma and I ended up with all the emotional baggage you've given Grace."

"For your information, I told her after you did, and she's pleased. She would have been pleased for you if you'd not acted like a complete idiot!" Connie snapped in reply.

"And I would have apologised for what I said if you'd have let me! Since when have you become the model parent in this scenario? From what I've heard from Grace, Jacob seems to do the lions share of the child caring, and as for Ava, Grace thinks-"

"Don't you dare bring Ava into this!" Connie barked, squaring herself up to the man in front of her. "Grace needs stability, you know she does, and if that stability comes in the form of Jacob, then so what? What does she get when she visits you? Shopping days with Emma, no discipline and a rare adult dinner with her father. Whenever she comes back from visiting you, her anxiety is sky high and it takes all our time sorting it just in time for her to visit you again!"

"If she lived with me full time, you know that wouldn't be the case!"

"What I KNOW is that when she lived with you last time she started having panic attacks, and all you did is send her to a therapist instead of just talking to her!"

"Connie, there are issues-"

"That could be resolved by us, Sam. Us. She doesn't need to talk to some stranger about the things we need to understand!"

"Why are you bringing all of this up now, Con? It's hardly like you were fussed when it was bad before!"

"YOU NEVER TOLD ME!"

"YOU NEVER ASKED!"

At this, she felt her hands slacken and fall to her sides. Why were they bringing back all of this now? How was this going to help Grace?

"She wants to change her name." Connie spoke quietly, before looking up to meet Sam's glare.

"She what?"

"She... Grace wants to take Jacob's name. Now we're married, and with Ava..."

"He's not her father."

"No. But she doesn't have your name anyway."

"How can you..." His hands raised up in disbelief. "You think I'm going to just agree? I'm not beneath you anymore Con, I don't have to just accept what you decide."

"It's what she wants, it makes sense-"

"He is not her father. She's not a Masters, Con. It doesn't work like that.

"Says the man who just told her she wasn't part of his family." Connie spat back.

"That's not what I meant and you know it!"

"But that's what you said, that's what your daughter heard! And you know what, it's not just that- you haven't asked her to visit ONCE since she moved here. Emma has asked and organised the whole thing. You couldn't even be bothered to take time off work to spend with her while she was there, either! But you know who spends time with her, every day? Jacob. You know who makes sure she is included in every decision? Jacob. Why would she want your name, or mine for that matter, when she can have his? He has been more of a parent to her than either of us will ever be!"

* * *

In the movie theatre, Grace was struggling to concentrate, her thoughts on what might be happening at home. Her parents were both fiery people, and she was worried about her mother getting too upset. Or her mother agreeing that she needed to go back and live with her father.

As tears began to cloud her vision, a strong arm suddenly wrapped around her shoulder and Jacob dropped a kiss to her head. "It'll be okay firecracker. And if it's not, we will sort it, just like always."

Grace nodded, but still buried her face into Jacob's top.

Sensing something was upsetting her sister, already having forgotten about Sam and her mother yelling in her excitement about going to the movies, Ava stood up and joined her sister in her seat, snuggling into her side. "It's okay, Gracie."

Grace pulled her sister onto her knee and hugged her for the rest of the movie as Jacob's arm stayed tightly around her shoulders.

* * *

"I want to take her back."

"Are you out of your-"

"Connie, she would have more-"

"NO!"

In the midst of the argument, neither Sam nor Connie heard Jacob enter with the two girls. He quickly ushered Grace upstairs with Ava, giving her back and gentle push of reassurance, before walking slowly down the hall to linger outside the kitchen. He watched as Connie stood face on to Sam, shouting at him, and as he heard her words begin to rush and trip over each other, and as emotion seemed to be getting the better of her, he quickly stepped behind her to pull her back towards him. His arms wrapped carefully, but securely around her middle and he turned her around so that she faced him, whilst Sam moved away from where he had been driven into the counter, brushing a hand over his face.

"Hey..."

"She's not going anywhere."

"Grace?"

"Yes, Jacob-"

"Why would she be?"

He turned her around so she stood beside him, one arm still holding her around her waist whilst the other raised up to gain Sam's attention.

"He wants her to go with him." Connie spoke quietly, her anger beginning to steadily reignite.

"No, that's not happening."

"Well you know what? This has nothing to do with you. You're not her father. I was willing to give Connie a try, god knows i wanted it to work beause Grace did, but it's not working. She has told me herself she keeps having panic attacks, and it seems as though you two will soon have your hands full, anyway." Sam motioned to Connie's middle, which she covered protectively.

"Are you even going to give the girl a choice? Her friends are here, her sister is here-" jacob began.

"Half sister. She needs a stable environment." Sam crossed his arms.

"She has that here with her family." Connie spat. "Grace is staying here, if you want to see her more often, then put her before your career and move back here!"

Upstairs, Grace hugged her sister close. They could hear the adults arguing and when she heard the idea of Grace leaving, Ava looked up at her with wide eyes. "You won't go, will you Gracie?"

Grace shook her head adamently, glanced towards the door and then pulled her sister close again. "I am going to stay with you no matter what, and if anyone tries to make me leave, I will run away and come and get you!'

"You're so brave,Gracie!" Ava pointed out in awe.

Downstairs, Jacob could feel Connie shaking with anger and forced himself to take a deep breath as Sam stepped closer.

"She is coming with me. Now."

"She won't go, Sam." Jacob spoke, levelled and calmly. "You need to focus on Emily and the baby. Grace is happy here. Yes, there are difficulties but we get through them, because deep down she knows she's as loved and wanted by both Connie and I, as her sister and the baby."

"We would love her-"

"That's just it, Sam." Connie spoke up, raising her head to focus intently on him. "Would. You don't already, you've separated her too much from your life over there for her to fit." She felt Jacob squeeze her hand in his as she said the last part, and she lightly brushed her thumb over his fingers to acknowledge it.

"Dad."

The three of them turned around sharply, as Grace walked across to stand between her parents. There was a small noise in the hallway, and Ava pattered across the floor to stand in the doorway. Connie made to go to her, but Jacob quickly picked her up and placed a kiss to her head, before turning to look at Grace.

"Grace, you don't need to-"

"I do. I don't want to go with him, and I don't know why he thinks I'm going to."

"That's my girl." Jacob murmured softly with a smile, glancing sidewards to see a slight upwards twitch at Connie's mouth.

"I know you didn't mean what you said, Dad, but I'm happy here. You and Emma will need time to adjust to having a baby around, and I don't want to be in the way of that. I know we will have one here, too, but we've already been through it with Ava." Grace told him confidently, but still risked a glance at her mother who gave her a smile. "I will come and visit you on holidays, and I love doing that, but I don't want to live with you."

"Gracie, I don't-" Sam began, but was cut off my his daughter.

"And I want to take Jacob's name. I have mum's old name, but she doesn't use it anymore, and I want to be like her. I can still have your name, but I want their name, too. I want to belong somewhere, and I think I belong here." Now her breathing began to quicken, because her father remained quiet and she thought she might have upset him. "..Dad?"

Sam finally looked up at her, and it hurt to see the pain in his eyes. He'd been sure that Grace would want to come with him. She loved all the things he could buy her in America, and the state of the art apartment they'd lived in, and the lifestyle he could give her. Here, she lived in a house strewn with toys , a mother who no longer earned as much as he did, and a father who was a mere nurse. "I'm going to go and let you think about this overnight, Grace, and I'll come back tomorrow and see how you feel."

Though Grace shook her head, she was unable to get any words out.

A second later, Ava surprised them all by suddenly snapping at Sam, "She's staying with me, so go away you...big smelly bottom!" It was the worst phrase she knew, and she was satisfied that it would offend him enough to make him go and stop upsetting her family.


	16. Chapter 16

"What I can't understand..." She closed her eyes for a moment, Jacob's fingers trailing lazy circles over her stomach as they lay on the sofa in the office, both of the girls upstairs and asleep. "Is why he decides this now. One minute it's as if she's an inconvenience to him, and then the next..."

"Which is exactly why she won't be going, Con. Ava told him so." He assured her, pressing a kiss to her head as he sighed and looked down at her. She turned her head to look up at him, remembering Sam's face at Ava's little outburst. A small smile crept over her face, and he tilted his head as he noticed it. "What you smiling at, sweet cheeks?"

"Ava."

A grin spread over Jacob's face as he too remembered the manners of his youngest. He shook his head in amusement, before moving his hand from her stomach to her hair, wrapping a single curl of it loosely around his index finger.

"I can't lose her again, Jacob." He heard her whisper, and he exhaled, "...If she decides to go, which I really don't think we will, we can just go after her." Jacob decided, and Connie was soon looking at him hopefully. "We could both get a job there easily, and you know Ava will fit in wherever she lives."

"You'd really do that? For me?" Connie asked softly.

"I'd do it for our family." Jacob replied confidently and was pleased to see a slight smile on Connie's lips. "Come on, bed time."

"I won't sleep." She sighed.

"We can watch a movie, then, but if we stay here much longer your back won't thank you in the morning." Jacob pointed out, his fingers finally stopping so he could sit up and hold a hand out to his wife.

With another sigh, she allowed him to help her up, and a few short minutes later they were curled up in bed, the TV playing quietly in the corner, though neither of them were paying attention to it. Connie's eyes were half shut as she tried to focus on Jacob's heartbeat where her head rested on his chest rather than the thoughts racing through her mind, and Jacob himself was thinking about what they'd do if Grace decided to go with her father.

"Mummy?" Came a sudden, quiet voice from the doorway. Grace stood there nervously, and when Connie silently held open an arm to her, she ran to the bed, slipping under the covers to snuggle to her mother's side. "I can't sleep." She admitted quietly.

Connie dropped a kiss to her daughter's hair, unsure how to reassure her.

"Why don't I go and make you two a hot chocolate? Always helps me when I can't sleep." Jacob offered with a hopeful smile. Though neither of them thought it would work, they both nodded in response and watched Jacob as he slipped from the room.

"...If you're worried about hurting your father, or me, you don't need to, sweetheart. We just want what's best for you." Connie spoke softly into her daughter's hair.

Before Grace could reply, there was a wail from down the hall where the girl's bedrooms were. As Connie and Grace scrambled from the bed to check on Ava, Jacob took the stairs two at a time and rushed past the bedroom door towards Ava's room. However, he found her just into Grace's room with tears rolling down her face as she wailed, "Gracie's gone! I want Gracie!"knowing that no matter what he said now, it would only be when Sam left that she would truly believe that Grace wanted to stay.

"Come here, darlin'." He scooped Ava into his arms, murmuring gently to comfort her as he walked back across the landing to his and Connie's room. She and Grace stood worryingly in the doorway, retreating back towards the bed as Jacob came through. He said nothing more, but allowed Connie to take Ava from his arms and wrap her tightly up in an embrace, watching as she walked backwards to sit on the bed, rocking her daughter in her arms as Grace knelt next to her, talking quietly to Ava as she began to stop crying. When Connie looked up at him, he gave a small nod before leaving and turning to the stairs.

"You don't want Grace to stay with us?" Ava turned to Connie, watching innocently as her mother's face fell and her eyes drew sideways to look at Grace. She closed her eyes, the memories and pain of the years of fights and hurt between them bringing themselves to the surface again at Ava's accusation. She shook her head, and smiled a small, grateful smile when she felt Grace's hand edge over one of hers which was pressed at Ava's back.

"That's not what's happening, sweetheart."

"But I heard you!"

"That's not what Mummy meant, Ava. It's complicated." Grace turned to look at her Mum, knowing that this was an echo of a conversation they had had in fact not so long ago, when this situation had arisen previously. "My dad is being silly. Very silly, and he wants me to live with him. But I don't want to. I know I don't want to, but mummy and Jacob, they worry about how I feel and want do to what's best." She watched as Ava regarded her intently, slipping slightly from Connie's lap to move closer to Grace.

"You need to tell them, Gracie. Because I don't think they-"

She broke off as Grace began to laugh, before pressing a brief kiss to her sister's forehead. "Don't you worry, I'll make sure they know."

When Jacob returned with the hot chocolates, he found everyone sat back in bed, Ava's favourite movie playing on the TV in the corner of the room. For a brief moment, Jacob remembered when Ava was a baby and he had woken on countless nights to find Connie watching kids movies for the first time with tears on her face.

"One for me, too?" Ava asked hopefully as she saw Jacob stood with a tray of hot chocolates.

Smiling, he passed her the smallest, then passed one to Grace before finally placing one into his wife's hands and quickly covering hers with his as he sat down, to stop her shaking from tipping the hot drink over. Connie gave him a grateful smile and sipped on the drink, surprised when she began to feel her eyelids growing heavy.

..

When Connie woke the next morning, she found herself trapped on the bed, remembering why they used to nickname Ava 'Monkey.' Though the girl's head was resting on her sister's shoulder, she had somehow managed to move in her sleep until her body was horizontal, her body and legs resting over her parents. Connie turned her head and couldn't help but laugh at the tiny space Jacob had made for himself on the edge of the bed, Ava's toes painfully close to poking his eyes out.

Both a baby and a 4 year old resting on her bladder, Connie was soon forced to wriggle her way from the bed, and soon found herself wandering through the rooms downstairs. Though she was supposed to clear up, Ava's toys remained everywhere, Grace's books and pencils littered most surfaces, and somehow there seemed to be stolen high heels hidden in the most obvious of places. When Grace was younger, Connie's life had been so black and white, but now it was so full of colour and noise and life. Walking towards Jacob's gym, the room that was supposed to be his sanctuary in a house full of females, she smiled when she found the walls covered in photos and the floor also covered in toys and books. Why did Sam have to come now, when life was so perfect?

"Mum?"

Connie turned to find Grace stood behind her looking nervous.

Before her mother could speak, Grace offered, "I want to spend the day with dad."

"Oh." It was all Connie could manage as she felt her heart sink.

"..I don't want to go with him, but I don't want him to feel bad, either. I thought maybe a day out might help..." Grace continued nervously.

Connie forced a smile to her lips. She knew how easily Grace could be persuaded. "Of course, sweetheart. Why don't you give him a call?"

It was 5 minutes later, when Connie had returned to the warmth and safety of Jacob and her monkey that Grace stormed in, in tears once more. "He's gone! He said he would come back tomorrow, but he went back to America and he didn't even say goodbye! I hate him!"

"Oh, sweetheart..."

"Why does he do this, Mum?"

"Grace, come here." Jacob patted the small space left on the bed in between him and Connie. He brought her into his arms, looking over her head to see Connie watching them sadly, as Ava now climbed to reach her arms to her mother's shoulders.

"I only wanted to make sure he knew why I wanted to stay..."

"I know."

"I'm never going to see him again, am I?"

Jacob paused, uncertain of how to respond. There wanted as no point lying to her. He looked back to Connie, whose eyes were turned downwards, as she thumbed the buttons on Ava's pyjama sleeve.

"Maybe not, firecracker. But give him some time, he has a lot to think about. And you have us all here, right? We're not going anywhere." This time he did see Connie look up, relieved to see a small smile that widened as she watched him comfort her daughter.

Grace nodded, and quickly brushed the tears from her cheeks. "Love you, Jacob."

"I love you too. All of you, a lot." He rubbed Grace's shoulder and brought her to him in a hug, mouthing "especially you" with a wink to Connie over her head.

Despite the fact she wanted to stay in bed for the whole day and ignore the world, Connie soon got everyone up, having decided they'd go on a family outing. Although everyone was tired, by 10am they were all in the car and going somewhere, although Connie hadn't decided where until she saw a sign.

"Left lane, Jacob." She instructed from the back seat, where Ava had insisted her mother sit with her.

Grace glanced out the window and slipped out an earphone, "London? We're going to London."

"We are going to give your room a complete makeover and buy you a new wardrobe!" Connie decided.

Grace turned to glance at her mother and then gave a squeal of happiness.

Though Jacob raised his eyebrows, remembering what a slippery slope it was when buying Grace's happiness in the past, but he remained silent and just drove where she instructed.

When they arrived, Ava was still refusing to leave her mother's side, and it took a good 5 minutes before she agreed that Jacob could carry her. By that time, Grace already had a list of shops she wanted to go into and was bouncing with excitement, so when Connie was finally free from Ava, Grace pulled her arm.

"Come ON, mum. We have so many places to go, and I don't want to miss anywhere!"

"If we miss anywhere, we'll just stay overnight and go tomorrow. one day off school won't hurt." Connie reassured her daughter, smiling when Grace took her hand to lead her into the first shop.

"Are you alright, Ava?" Grace hung back as she noticed her sister gaxing around the park they were walking through. Jacob looked behind him when he noticed the girls were lagging behind, but was happy to see how Grace held Ava's hand and talked to her as they walked slowly. He turned his attention back to Connie and took her hand, fully aware of the giveaway smile that pulled at her lips despite her head facing forwards.

"Ava?"

Grace squeezed Ava's hand to get her attention. She got no answer, she was completely distracted. It was beautiful, the vast, open green space that was spread before them, tall buildings poking over the tops of the trees. There were a lot of people sat down on the grass, a mix of families and couples, and Grace watched bemused as Avas head turned from side to side and around her as she took it all in.

"Hey..."

Grace stopped where she stood, and took both of her sister's hands in hers.

"Why don't we go and see Peter Pan?

At this, Ava's eyes widened and her mouth opened slightly, in delight.

"Peter Pan?!"

"There's a statue not far from here. And..."

She bent down, to whisper in Ava's ear.

"You know that on Hyde Park Corner, that's where the BFG climbed over the wall?"

Ava began to hop where she stood, a tiny squeal escaping as once again she gazed around her.

"Come on, let's go and ask Mum."

Grace and Ava ran the short distance to catch up with Connie and Jacob, who turned around and exclaimed as Ava practically barrelled into him.

"I expect that hurt her more than you!"

Connie chided, taking her daughters' hands and shaking her head at Jacob, who simply chuckled.

"Mum, can we... Take a break?"

"Hm?"

"We've been shopping a while, and it's been lovely, but I want to show Ava some things."

Connie turned to her daughter, surprised.

"Oh?"

"Mummy, please don't be angry, it's not that-"

"No, no darling, I'm not! What is it you want to do?"

"I want to show Ava Peter Pan. And the wall-"

"Where the BFG climbed over to go and see the Queen!" Ava let go of her mother's hand and began to skip happily backwards in front of them. Connie looked to Jacob, who was trying to supress a grin.

An hour later, Connie, Jacob, Grace and Ava found themselves being one of the families that were relaxed on the grass. Jacob had momentarily disappeared while Connie was taking photos of her daughters, and when he returned it was with a rug and a picnic. "Where did-"

"Always be prepared, that's my motto." Jacob grinned as he spread the blanket out and Ava flopped onto it happily.

"No, that's the Boy Scout motto, and I bet you were always been too naughty to be a scout, Jacob Masters." Connie teased before joining her youngest as she began to look through the foods her father had bought.

"Gracie! Lunch!" He called. Somehow, miles from home in a huge city, she had managed to find a friend from school.

Saying goodbye, Grace rushed back to her family with a grin, falling down next to her mother before pulling into a strong hug, suddenly overwhelmed with happiness. It was a warm, sunny day and she was having her very first picnic. "I love you, mum."

"I love you, too." Connie dropped a kiss to her hair.

"I love mummy, too. And you. You love me back, don't you Gracie?" Ava questioned as she settled herself in her mother's lap, worried her new pretty dress might get dirt on it if she sat alone.

"I love you the most of anyone," Grace assured with a smile.

"Well, you know...I'm feeling a little left out here. I love you all." Jacob sighed, sticking out his bottom lip and making it wobble, much to Ava's delight. She was the first to giggle, followed by Connie and then Grace. "Don't laugh at me!" Jacob protested.

"I love you, Jacob." Connie finally offered, and Grace was amazed at the ease it came from her lips.

Trying to voice her feelings just as bravely, Grace offered quietly, "I love you too, dad."

Jacob and Connie's eyes met over Ava's head and then both looked towards Grace.

Her cheeks turned red with embarrassment as she plucked up the grass from beside the picnic rug, unable to look at Jacob. Before he could reply, however, Ava added, "I tolerate you, daddy."

"You tolerate him?!" Connie questioned, amazed her daughter knew such a word. "Jacob, I'd say this calls for something only very cheeky little girls get. What do you think, Gracie?"

"Definitely." Grace nodded, biting back a smile as Ava began to glance worriedly at the people on the rug.

"Tickle time!" Jacob cried.

As Ava squirmed on the rug and laughed loudly with delight as her mother tickled her, Grace found an arm gently around her shoulder.

"I love you too, princess." Jacob offered quietly.

Grace smiled happily to herself. She used to watch families with jealousy and sadness, but now she finally had her very own. Leaping forward, she joined in with her mother, and Jacob was soon called in to save Ava amid breathless laughter from the whole family.

Grace decided this might be her favourite day ever.


End file.
